Iran secured its first victory at the Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in the Philippines. On Friday, Iranian women claimed a 3-0 (25-4, 25-13, 25-14) triumph over their Maldivian rivals in a Pool D match at Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Muntinlupa, Press TV reported.

The Iranians, having already failed to secure a berth among the top eight teams, almost blanked their opponents in the first set of the game, and only gave away four points due to their individual errors.

The Maldives then tried to recover from the humiliating opening set in the ensuing sets, managing to score 13 and 14 points respectively.

Iran’s hard-hitting spiker Mina Roosta led the scoring with 9 points, while Mahdieh Khajehkolaei, Mahsa Saberi and Neda Chamlanian had 8 apiece to contribute to Iran’s victory.

“We had two difficult matches against Chinese Taipei and Thailand and today we had a normal match against Maldives,” Mirmostafa Shojaei, technical advisor of the Iranian women’s volleyball team, said after the game.

He added, “We are preparing ourselves for future matches.” Iran will next take on Australia in a 9-14 playoffs fixture in Pool H on August 14. / Iran daily /