By Maryam Hessaby
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, October 4, 2021 – In-form Saipa continued their remarkable run in the 2021 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at Terminal 21 Hall on Monday after a stunning 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) win against Kazakhstan’s Zhetysu to end the drought of progressing into the semifinals in this topflight competition.
No Iranian team have made it to the semifinals of the Asian Women’s Club Championship since its inception in Thailand 22 years ago. The crucial win in the Monday’s quarterfinals has earned the Iran’s Super League champions a spot in the semifinals, where they are due to go up against formidable Altay from Kazakhstan, the only team which have yet lost a single set to their respective rivals en route to a clean sweep in Pool B, on Wednesday.
Zhetysu, which suffered two losses in a row including the 2-3 letdown to Nakhon Ratchasima in their preliminary Pool A match earlier, were relegated to the classification round for 5th-7th places.
Mona Ashofteh topscored with 17 points for Saipa including 14 attacks, while team-mate Pouran Zare contributed 10 points. Svetlana Parukova led Zhetysu with 12 points including 11 attacks.
“I am so happy to win the match today. This victory is so precious for us. From the very first, what I have initially expected from my team is to make it to the semifinals and now it’s a dream come true. I appreciate my players’ hard work. They showed their quality in this match. This is the first time in history of Iran volleyball that an Iran women’s team is among Top Four. My players made dramatic improvement and I am proud of them today,” Saipa head coach Maryam Sadat Hashemi commented after the match.
Mahsa Saberi as the most experienced player in the team with years of contribution to the Iran national team, said, “We tried hard for this victory. We trained intensively in an effort of leaving for the Philippines for the Asian Senior Women’s Championship this year but the competition was postponed to next year. I am happy that today we wrote a new chapter of history with this amazing victory. Congratulations to all my team-mates and the volleyball family of Iran who have extended their support for years.”
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