AVC: TOP FOUR THROUGH TO IRAN WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE SEMIFINALSDominant Tehran Saipa, Isfahan Zob Ahan, Kashan Barij Esans and Tehran Paykan secured their semifinal berths after 18 weeks of thrilling volleyball rivalries in the pool round-robin preliminaries of the Iran Women’s Premier League.

Saipa, which went atop the team’s leaderboard, could prove one of the strongest teams to be reckoned with in the League. In the 2021 Asian Women’s Club Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, Saipa performed superbly to finish unprecedented fourth, something to be proud of for Iran volleyball as they wrote a new chapter by becoming the first Iran women’s team ever to finish well-earned top four in the Asian-level competitions.

Reigning champions Saipa advanced to the semifinals with a remarkable run after collecting 50 points from 17 victories and only one loss.

By the end of pool preliminaries, the afore-mentioned top four teams will face off in the semifinals, while the lower-ranked sides had completed their 2021-22 campaign. The top two winners in the semi-finals will make it to the final showdown of the Iran Women’s Volleyball Premier League on February 10 at Volleyball Federation Hall, while the losers will battle it out for the bronze medal in the third-place playoff match.

The semifinals will be the best-of-three contest, with the team which record two wins advancing to the final round. However, the deciding match is necessarily required in case any team cannot win two matches on the trot.

Standings at the end of Pool Plays:

1. Tehran Saipa / 17 W, 1 L / 50 Points

2. Isfahan Zob Ahan / 16 W, 2 L / 47 Points

3. Kashan Barij Esans / 15 W, 3 L / 47 Points

4. Tehran Paykan / 12 W, 6 L / 36 Points

5. Rafsanjan Mess / 8 W, 10 L / 25 Points

6. Tehran Mehrsun / 8 W, 10 L / 23 Points

7. Fars Setaregan / 6 W, 12 L / 18 Points

8. Isfahan Reef / 5 W, 13 L / 15 Points

9. Yazd Javanan-e Zartoshti/ 3 W, 15 L / 9 Points

10. Varamin Banovan / 0 W, 18 L / 0 Point

MATCH SCHEDULE

Semifinals

First Match

February 5, 2022

Saipa v Peykan

Zob Ahan v Barij Esans

Second Match

February 7, 2022

Peykan v Saipa

Barij Esans v Zob Ahan