Irans Saturday night defeat in Tehrans Azadi Sports Complex was its first against visiting Olympic and World League champion Russia during this years league.
Iranian volleyball players are seen defending against the Russian team during a match at the 2015 FIVB World League in Tehran on July 4, 2015. (FIVB)
To the dismay of some 12,000 fans, Russia pounded Slobodan Kova?s boys3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21).
On Friday, Irans squad picked up a home victory against the Russians in three straight sets 25-21, 25-21 and 25-21.
Also on Friday, Irans national volleyball team was ousted from the tournament after Polandregistered a hard-fought home victory over the American team.
"Tonight, my captain (seen below) represented how one must fight in the court. I want all my players to be like that, said Kova? after the match.
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Irans captain Saeed Marouf is seen during a jump spin at a match at the 2015 FIVB World League in Tehran on July 4, 2015. (FIVB)[/caption]"It was so difficult to repeat the result (Friday's 3-0 victory over the same opposition), because yesterday, we had the possibility to join the final and after the match of Poland with USA, we knew that was a big delusion. Congratulations to Russia's team. They took the last chance to stay at level 1," he added.
Irans captain Saeed Marouf (seen above)also said, "The conditions made it natural to expect a tough match. But we started the game with a good mentality. This loss was unbelievable, and I do not know what happened.
Congratulations to Russia. We prefer to have Russia in level 1 to learn from them," he added.
At the end of week 8 of the league, Iran is in the third spot of Pool B with 18 points, below the US and Poland with 27 and 22 points respectively while Russia is rooted to the bottom with only 5 points.
By press TV
