Serbia beats Iran at 2016 FIVB World League
The national Iranian men's volleyball team has lost to Serbia at the 2016 FIVB World League.
On Saturday, the Serbian squad defeated Iran 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-18 and 25-21) in a Pool F1 encounter held at Hall Aleksandar Nikolic in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.
Iran’s Argentine coach Raúl Lozano fielded captain Saeid Marouf, Milad Ebadipour, Shahram Mahmoudi, Seyed Mohammad Mousavi, Adel Gholami, Mohammad Javad Manavinejad and Mehdi Marandi in the starting line-up.
The Serbians started the first set in a strong fashion and led the first break 3-2. Marko Podrascanin then slammed it for 5-3 after the break.
Serbia went on collecting points until Iran’s Manavinejad scored to make it 10-13 in the 21st minute.
The Serbian volleyball players maintained momentum afterward, and recorded a 16-12 lead at the second technical timeout.
Finally, a good serve by 22-year-old Drazen Luburic helped Podrascanin seal the first set at 25-19 in Serbia’s favor.
Iranians brought the game under control as it progressed into the second set, and Hamzeh Zarini scored an ace to put Iran up 5-3.
Zarini continued to create all sorts of problems for Serbia from the service line, helping his side lead 7-3 in the 44th minute.
In the 58th minute, Mousavi slammed convincingly to take Iran to the second technical timeout with the narrow lead of 16 points to 15. The Iranian team won the second set 26-24.
The Serbians began the third set energetically and led 2-0 after the breather. The European team kept scoring as both sides went into the first technical timeout 8-4.
The Serbian volleyball players then sought to extend the deficit, and were 16-10 ahead at the second technical timeout. The host side ultimately pulled out to a 25-18 victory.
The hosts maintained composure in the fourth and final set, and surged ahead to close the set at 24-21.
Serbia's Uros Kovacevic scored the match high of 19 points. He was followed by Drazen Luburic with 18 points.
Shahram Mahmoudi earned 17 points, while Hamzeh Zarini was the second top scorer for Iran with 15 points.
“It was an even match, with Serbia performing slightly better tonight. I think that they are probably in the best shape right now. They beat Russia, Poland, Brazil and us. It is pretty much obvious. I believe that we will play better in the next match against Serbia, and hopefully we will be able to win,” Lozano said after the match.
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