2018 FIVB MEN’S VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE – WEEK 5/POOL 19
- June 22nd-June 23rd, 2018
- Azadi Indoor Stadium, Tehran, Iran (seats 12,000)
- Time Zone: Iran Daylight Time, UTC+4:30 (U.S. Eastern Time +8:30)
- World Rankings: #8 Iran, #10 Germany, #14 Bulgaria, #21 South Korea
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- Schedule/Results
| Date | Time | Score | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 Jun | 16:00 | Bulgaria  |
2–3 |  Germany |
25–21 | 22–25 | 25–23 | 23–25 | 13–15 | 108–109 | |
| 22 Jun | 18:30 | Iran  |
3–1 |  South Korea |
27–25 | 23–25 | 25–22 | 25–23 | 100–95 |
Germany def. Bulgaria 3-2
- Germany defeated Bulgaria 21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13
- Germany moved to 6-7 (19 points); Bulgaria moved to 5-8 (15 points)
Both teams scored 109 points in the match, but it was Germany that rallied from down 2-1 in the match to steal away the five-set win over Bulgaria.
The Germans boasted the advantage in kills (60-52), but trailed 4-2 in aces and gave up 46 points on errors (to 40 for Bulgaria). Both teams put up seven blocks.
With Tobias Krick and Christian Fromm resting on the bench, Moritz Reichert led a group of five starters with eight or more points in the match for Germany. Reichert scored 19 points, all on kills, while Simon Hirsch added 17, also all via putaway. Moritz Karlitzek (13), Marcus Bohme (12) and Jakob Gunthor (8) followed. Bohme turned in 10 kills and two blocks, while Karlitzek added nine putaways, two blocks and the team’s two aces. Gunthor put up a team-leading three blocks to go with his five kills.
Bulgaria also featured a balanced attack with three double-digit scorers, led by Valentin Bratoev‘s 15. Bratoev accounted for 12 kills and a team-high three aces, while Boyan Yordanov managed 14 points (13 kills, 1 block) before exiting the match after Set 4. Svetoslav Gotsev tacked on 11 (8 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace). Three other players tallied six or more points. Nikolay Uchikov did not enter the match until Set 4.
The teams played to a 14-all tie in Set 1, before Bulgaria pushed ahead by four at 22-18 and ended the set at 25-21 on a German miscue.
Germany boasted a 16-12 advantage midway through Set 2 and held on for the 25-22 win despite the best efforts of Bratoev.
A back and forth affair was tied at 23-all in Set 3 before Bulgaria broke away for the 25-23 with kills by Yordanov and Batoev.
Hirsch and Karlitzek turned in on in Set 4 as Germany sent the match to a decider with a 25-23 victory, which was clinched as Uchikov served long.
Germany struggled from the service line early in Set 5, but their block and Karlitzek came through to give the team a 12-8 lead. The margin was too much to overcome for the Bulgarians, who had their two-match win streak snapped at 15-10.
Iran def. South Korea 3-1
- Iran defeated South Korea 27-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23
- Iran moved to 5-8 (16 points); South Korea moved to 1-12 (5 points)
Thirty-five errors were too much for South Korea to overcome in a four-set loss to Iran on Friday.
The Koreans boasted a 61-49 lead in kills and 7-5 advantage in aces, but trailed 8-7 in aces and 35-25 in points off errors in the close loss.
Milad Ebadipour racked up a match-high 17 points (16 kills, 1 block), while Morteza Sharifi and Saber Kazemi poured in 12 and 11 respectively for Iran. Sharifi downed 10 kills and added two blocks, while Kazemi starred at the service line with four of the team’s five aces, to go with six kills and a block. Masoud Gholami put up a team-best three blocks as part of his seven point tally in just over two sets.
Myung-Geun Song and Gyeong-Bok Na notched 13 points apiece to pace Korea. Song tallied a team-high 11 kills and two aces, while Na added 10 putaways and three aces. Three other players added nine points – Jiseok Jung, Kwang-In Jeon and Sung-Min Moon, with each playing sporadically in the match. Jae-Duck Seo did not play for the Koreans.
Korea built a 12-8 lead in Set 1 and Na and Kazemi traded blows throughout the stanza, before Iran stole away the stanza on its third set-point try at 27-25.
The Koreans boasted a 5-2 lead to open Set 2 and made their way through a close set to knot the match with a 25-23 win.
Kazemi led the way for Iran early in Set 3, while Shafiei and Ebadipour starred late as the hosts edged to a 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Iran led 8-4 in Set 4, but Korea kept the pressure on throughout the final set, before a Taekeui Hwang service error ended the night.
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