U.S. Men Challenge Iran in 3-1 Victory - Articles

Aided by two challenges that went its way in the final points of the fourth set, the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team eked out a win over Iran, 23-25, 25-13, 27-25, 26-24 on Friday in World League pool play action at Carioca Arena in Rio de Janeiro. DALLAS WORLD LEAGUE TICKETS | WORLD LEAGUE TV/STREAMING SCHEDULE | FIVB WORLD LEAGUE WEB SITE The U.S. Men improved to 2-0 and will face their host and world No. 1 Brazil (2-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. The matches will be shown live on NBC Sports Extra and on NBC Sports Network. With Iran at set point in the fourth set, 24-23, U.S. opposite Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) attacked cross-court and the ball was called out. But before Iran could celebrate victory, U.S. Head Coach John Speraw challenged the ruling and the review showed the ball barely caught the line, and therefore was in. With the score tied 24-24, Anderson again hit cross-court and this time it landed clearly out of bounds. However a Speraw challenge showed that the ball hit Iranian blocker Adel Gholami’s fingers for a touch call, giving the U.S. match point. A final Anderson kill to the same part of the court gave the U.S. the victory. “I think this is one of the first times the replay system has helped our team,” U.S. Team Captain David Lee (Alpine, Calif.) said. “This was stressful. Obviously Brazil is our biggest opponent of this group phase and we face them tomorrow night. That will be...

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