TEHRAN – Iran beat New Zealand 3-1 (25-15, 25-27, 25-13, 25-16) in 9th Place Playoff match of 2024 Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium on Sunday.

Outside hitter Shaghayegh Hassankhani delivered 15 points from 12 kills and 3 aces for Iran, while opposite Sepinood Dastbarjan and middle blocker Paria Hajatmand contributed 11 points apiece. Opposite Charlie Vail scored 13 points including 6 attacks from 14 attempts on the New Zealand’s loss.

Padideh Bolourizadeh’s team lost to Vietnam and Thailand and defeated Australia and New Zealand in the competition.

“I think we had a good start in this match against New Zealand, but then we lost our focus in the second set. They could gain composure back and had a very good start in the third set. In the fourth set, I think the players played very well, not as expected, but the problem was that we started from a very difficult group and we were very disappointed because we thought that we could be in the round of last 8. All in all, it’s a good experience for young players and I hope they can perform better in the near future,”  Bolourizadeh said.

Iran finished a well-earned sixth place at the previous edition in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan two years ago, but this time, they returned with the ninth position.

The Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship started on July 2 in Jiangmen, China and will run until July 9.

A total of 12 teams will vie for top honor and four berths at stake for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship.

Japan are defending champions.