The Iranian women's national volleyball team has been held to a two-two draw against Australia in a warm-up match for the 19th edition of Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in the Philippines.
The Iranian squad, which had Maedeh Borhani, Mahsa Saberi, Negar Kiani, Mahsa Kadkhoda, Faranak Babelian and Soudabeh Bagherpour in its initial lineup, drew with the Australia team 2-2 (25-21, 25-15, 22-25 and 18-25) on Tuesday.
Both teams were fighting point by point at the start of the opening set. The Persians, however, played a better game and did not let their opponents perform well in reception. The Iranian team claimed the set at 25-21 at last.
The Iranian team maintained its composure and lead into the second set, and went on racking up points to finally clinch a 25-15 victory.
The Australians came from behind in the third set, and managed to establish their control. They availed themselves of the Iranians' individual mistakes to surge ahead, and closed the set at 25-22.
Iran’s head coach Akram Ghahremani brought on several substitutes in the final set in an attempt to take the wind out of Aussies’ mast, but the strategy did not work and the Austrian team took the set by 25 points to 18.
The 19th edition of Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship is scheduled to be held from August 9 to August 17, 2017 in the Philippines. Matches will be played at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan and Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Muntinlupa.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is pitted against Chinese Taipei, the Maldives and Thailand in Pool D of the volleyball competitions.
Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and the Philippines are in Pool A.
Pool B consists of Australia, China and Japan. New Zealand, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are drawn in Pool C.
The Iranian team will play against Chinese Taipei in its opening preliminary round match on Wednesday.