The Red Dragons ended their first week in the Volleyball Nations League in Brasília with an impressive victory over Iran. Belgium started strongly, took a 2-0 lead, saw Iran come back to 2-2, but showed character once again in the tiebreak. The set scores were 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25 and 15-12.

Head coach Emanuele Zanini made one change to his starting seven. Pierre Perin returned to the line-up in place of Simon Plaskie. He started alongside Stijn D’Hulst, Ferre Reggers, Wout D’Heer, Seppe Rotty, Sam Fafchamps and libero Gorik Lantsoght.

The opening set started evenly. At 3-3, it was clear that both teams were closely matched, but Belgium gradually took the initiative. With Perin at the service line, the Red Dragons moved from 11-11 to 14-11. Iran came back through strong blocking, but Belgium looked more dominant than in the previous matches and stayed in control. At 19-16, the gap seemed to be there, although the Iranians refused to give up. With several strong defensive actions, they closed in to 23-22 in money time, but they came no closer. The Red Dragons played the final points with maturity and took the opening set 25-23.

In the second set, Iran had the upper hand, especially from the service line. Belgium had to chase the score and Zanini took his first time out early at 1-4. Once again, Perin brought the Red Dragons closer with his serve and at 4-5 Belgium was right back in the set. The match developed into an attractive volleyball battle, with Iran holding a slight advantage for a long time, but the Belgian team kept fighting as a collective. At 13-12, the Red Dragons took the lead for the first time. Perin and Reggers led the way offensively and constantly put the Iranian reception under pressure. At 19-17 for Belgium, Iran called a time out, but the Red Dragons continued to play at a high level. At 24-21, Belgium earned its first set point and closed it out moments later. With 25-22, the Red Dragons doubled their lead and deservedly went 2-0 up.

The third set also started evenly. Belgium created a first small gap at 5-3, while Stijn D’Hulst distributed the game excellently. The Belgian attackers were often put in ideal situations and regularly found themselves attacking against a single block. Iran, however, stayed close and at 15-15 everything was open again. In money time, the Iranians took over. After a rare mistake from Reggers, Iran moved ahead to 21-23 and then earned two set points at 22-24. Belgium saved the first, but at 23-25 Iran managed to take the set.

In the fourth set, Belgium struggled more. After another balanced start, 4-4, Iran increased the pressure from the service line, this time with fewer errors. As a result, the Red Dragons found it harder to score. Iran moved ahead to 9-12 and kept the gap at 12-16. At 13-18, everything seemed to be going Iran’s way. Zanini tried to change the momentum with several substitutions. Plaskie, Valkiers and Baetens came into the match, but Iran kept pushing and won the fourth set 17-25. A tiebreak would decide the match.

There, the Red Dragons stood up again. With Reggers at the service line, Belgium moved ahead to 4-2. Iran took a lot of risks on serve, but also paid the price for it. At 5-3, the Iranians already recorded their thirtieth service error of the match, compared to seventeen for Belgium. A block by Fafchamps gave Belgium a three-point lead at 7-4 and, led by Reggers, the Red Dragons extended the gap to 9-5. Iran still came back to 13-11, forcing Zanini into a time out. At 14-11, Belgium earned its first match point. Perin finished it off and gave Belgium a second victory in Brasília, 15-12.

“It went up and down, but we had to keep the motivation,” Pierre Perin said after the match. “We started the VNL well against Bulgaria, then we had two tough losses. We had to keep going and keep fighting for the result. I think this victory made us stronger.”

Head coach Emanuele Zanini was also very satisfied with the mental resilience of his team. “We are very happy, not only with the result, but also with the way we stayed mentally in the match. Iran came back and that is never easy. This team is new to this kind of competition and this was our fourth match in five days. That is very difficult, physically and mentally. That is why we are so satisfied. We opened the tournament with a victory and we also finish here with a victory. That gives us confidence for the next week in Poland.”

With two wins from four matches, the Red Dragons can look back with satisfaction on their very first week in the Volleyball Nations League. After a historic start in Brasília, the focus now shifts to the second week of competition in Poland.

Played for Belgium: Reggers, D’Hulst, D’Heer, Rotty, Fafchamps, Perin and Lantsoght.

Came in: Verwimp, Valkiers, Baetens, Van Elsen and Plaskie.