NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt spring enrollee Kimya Raietparvar recently returned from Russia with the U-19 Iranian National Team.
 
Raietparvar has been a member of the U-19 Iranian team since last October and has participated during the Asian Qualifying rounds.
 
Raietparvar and the Iranian National Team played against Azerbaijan, Belarus and Russia, going 2-1 in the tournament and finishing in second place. They beat Belarus, 1-0, for a key win over a team that sat about 40 points ahead of Iran in the rankings. 
 
Iran concluded the tournament with a loss to Russia, a highly ranked team, and a 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan. Raietparvar earned best player of the match honors against Azerbaijan, finishing the game with one assist.
 
"We started to make a name for ourselves back in Iran because we were shown on one of the biggest networks on TV," Raietparvar said. "It was such an honor because a lot of people were starting to know about my sister and me. My grandmother back in Iran even started to cry when she saw us on TV because she was so proud of us and her prayers had been answered."
 
Last year, Raietparvar traveled to Iran for the first time in 15 years when she joined the Iranian team camp with her sister in the fall of 2018. They were there for about a month training every other week and getting to visit family during their off weeks. 
 
"I actually committed to Vanderbilt when I was over there," Raietparvar said. "I was in the middle of practice when a got a call from Darren [Ambrose) and I answered him to tell him that I had decided I was coming to Vanderbilt."
 
Raietparvar is one of five signees for Vanderbilt for the upcoming 2019 season.
 
In high school, she was U.S. All-Conference first team in 2017, the Newcomer of the Year in 2016 and was named to the Olympic Development Program regional and state teams.

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