Iran sweep Bulgaria and continue to dream of the Finals

Iran took a step that many considered unlikely on the last day of the Preliminary Phase of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 and continue alive in the race for the last spot in the tournament’s Finals.

The Asians started the day well outside the qualification zone for the Finals, but an impressive 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) victory over Bulgaria in Gdańsk has skyrocketed them up in the VNL standings and has them fighting Slovenia to become the last team set to compete in Ningbo, China, from July 30 – August 3.

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The massive three-set victory made the Iranians move up an unbelievable seven spots in the standings on the last day of the Preliminary Phase, going from 14^th to seventh. The result alone, however, is not enough to secure them a spot in the Finals as they have six wins and 19 points and could still be passed by Slovenia, who play Serbia and have six wins and 17 points. The Iranian victory did, though, qualify Cuba, who have six wins and 20 points.

Star opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad was extremely productive for the Iranians, registering a team-high 19 points, with 14 kills, four aces and one block. Outside hitter Amirhossein Esfandiar also had an excellent all-around performance, delivering 14 points, with eight kills, four blocks and two aces.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re in or not, we always have to play our best volleyball,” head coach Roberto Piazza said. “We wanted to show that we can play at our level regardless of the pressure. I think we served very well and showed great discipline with our blocking.”

Opposite Venislav Antov was the only Bulgarian player to get to double digits in scoring, tallying 11 points, with nine kills and two blocks – star outside hitter Aleksandar Nikolov got eight points, all in kills.

China defeated Cuba 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-22, 19-17) in the first match of the day in Gdańsk. The week will be completed at the Ergo Arena with a rematch of the Paris 2024 Olympics gold medal match involving hosts Poland and France.

Italy sweep the Netherlands and finish second

In Ljubljana, world champions Italy had no trouble beating already-relegated the Netherlands 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-19) and ended the Preliminary Phase with the second-best campaign, with ten wins and 28 points. The Italians will play the seventh-best team in the quarterfinals – Cuba, Iran and Slovenia are the candidates.

Outside hitter Luca Porro led the Italian offense in their last Preliminary Phase match, producing 14 points, with 11 kills, two blocks and one ace. Opposite Alessandro Bovolenta came next with 11 (ten kills, one block). Opposite Michiel Ahyi scored 13 points (12 kills, one block) for the Dutch.

Volleyball Nations League 2025: full schedule and results

The first match of the day in Ljubljana had Canada upsetting Ukraine with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-27, 31-29, 25-21). Hosts Slovenia will play Serbia later, at 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT).

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