In the 8th round of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova, played against Verona away on Monday, November 21st local time, and lost in straight sets 0-3 (21-25, 17-25, 21-25).
After the match, Verona's Rok Mozic (OH, Slovenia) gave us a comment.
--How do you feel looking back on today's game?
Mojic: It was a nice game. It's always great to play in our own gym. A lot of people come and support us. With these two consecutive wins, we got 6 valuable points, and I think we're almost guaranteed to qualify for the Coppa Italia (8th place or higher at the end of the first half). I think we're playing very good volleyball, but we still have a lot of work to do. How should I put it... we were a little afraid of Padua. We knew that they can play good volleyball and have a lot of good players. But we also knew that if our serve and receive worked well, we could put them in a difficult situation. Because Verona has a lot of physically excellent players, such as myself, Keita, and Sapozukov, and if we can receive well, our setter Luca (Spirito) can get a good set, so it's very difficult to stop us.
--Takahashi was not in the starting lineup for Padova in today's match, but it seemed like Verona was able to play the game more easily when Takahashi was not on the court.
Mojic: Yes, I think so. I knew that he had a very good reception, and he also played well in attack at the end of the game. I think it was very difficult to play against us when we couldn't return the reception well. We have a high block, good defense, and the three players on the sides can spike over the opponent's block during counter attacks. In general, I think it's difficult to play against us unless you have a good serve and good reception.
- Verona is a young team with great potential, but they seemed unstable at the beginning of the season. However, they have been getting better as the season has progressed.
Mojic: As you say, we are young and strong, but there were games where we couldn't show our best. We had a lot of ups and downs. We were not stable, and the first two games of the season were very good, but the next two games were very bad. This is not good, so now we are trying to improve little by little every day and always maintain the level we had today. It's good to get a big improvement, but we don't want to drop too much. If we do that, we can win. I think we have a great chance to beat almost any team this season.
-You have been playing for Verona since last season, and last season you showed the kind of play you would expect from a young player, winning the top scorer award as a young player. However, this season you seem to be taking on a leadership role for the team, despite still being young (20 years old).
Mojic: Yes. Last season, I had to practice well and score on the court, but now, as you can see, I also support other players. Because I know my strengths, and one of them is to support other players as a leader. Keita and Max (Sapozhukov) are first-year players. Luka is also an experienced player, so we try to support them in every situation. As I said before, good receiving is very important in setting up a game, so I support them defensively like a libero, and if they play well, we can win. What matters is that the team wins, and it doesn't matter how many points I score.
--Starting this season, fellow Slovenian national team player Urnarto has been playing in the Japanese league (JTEKT). Would you like to play in Japan in the future?
Mozic: Of course! When I was younger, I wanted to play in Italy. Now my dream is coming true and if I play well here, I can stay here as long as I want. But of course I would also like to play in other countries with unique and different cultures. I know Japan is a beautiful country and I am looking forward to going to Japan next year for the VNL. I would also like to play in the Japanese league for a season or two in the future.
- Maybe it was around 35 years old, like UlNaruto (laughs).
Mozic: That may be true (laughs). The money is good too (laughs).
Photo: Author, Lega Pallovolo Serie A
The report of this match is here:
Here are some comments from other players in the match:
English 
Japanese