Iran lost to the US 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 17-15) in the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on Friday morning.
Esmaeilnejad produced the first 30-point performance, getting to the mark with 25 kills, four aces and one block.
“We had a really good start today, and we wanted to keep playing at that same level,” Esmaeilnejad said.
“But they started playing better and were better than us in the deciding moments. Now we have to keep going and focus on the next matches,” he added.
“We feel like we can improve in every aspect of the game with coach (Roberto) Piazza. We’re improving day by day, step by step,” he concluded.