TEHRAN, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran national volleyball team's coach Igor Kolakovic said that to suffer a narrow defeat to Serbia in Volleyball Nations League is very tough, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

Iran were defeated by Serbia 3-2 (21-25 25-22 27-25 20-25 15-11) on Sunday.

The defeat means Iran are now just playing for pride in the Volleyball Nations League - but Serbia march on and remain very much in the mix.

"It was a tough match. We played as hard as the match before but Serbia won," Kolakovic said.

"Now they (Serbia) really have an opportunity to play in the final, but I'm sad for us because we had an opportunity to win in this condition," he added.?