In the 9th match of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova (10th place), played against Monza (7th place) away on Sunday, February 19th local time, and won 3-2 (26-24, 17-25, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13).
Takahashi started in the starting lineup and contributed greatly to his team's victory with 21 points, the most of any player on either team.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Gardini (Italy), Takahashi (Japan)
MB: Volpato (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Monza
OH: Marr (Canada), Dawyskiba (Belarus)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Zimmermann (Germany)
L: Federici (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
Padua will be starting OH Gardini, who performed well last week, for the first time this season.
In the first set, MB Volpato made a block from the first point, giving Padua momentum, and then they extended their lead to 6-1 with four consecutive breaks, including three service aces, from OH Takahashi's serve.
Shortly after, Padova made a series of attack mistakes, bringing Monza to within one point at 6-5, but with a block from S. Saitta and other plays, Padova again widened the gap to 9-5.
From there, Padova continued to score points mainly through OH Takahashi and Monza through OH Marr, but Takahashi again scored a service ace and Padova went into the final stages with a 18-14 lead.
However, Monza then scored a break with a block from substitute OP Grosser (Germany) and an attack from OH Dawiskiba to tie the score at 21-21, and the match went into deuce, but in the end, OP Petkovic scored a spike from a turnaround to give Padova the set, 26-24.
In the second set, Monza started with OP Glozel.
In the early stages, OP Grozelle and Padova's OH Gardini were fighting for side outs at 5-6, but Monza broke through with spikes from OH Marr and an ace from MB De Martini to take a 13-8 lead.
At 10-15, Padova replaced OH Takahashi with OH Asparuhov (Bulgaria), but Monza continued to get side outs and even had an ace from MB Galassi to maintain a 21-15 lead going into the final minutes.
Padova's OP Petkovic fought hard with his spikes, but he made a series of mistakes at the end and Monza took the set 17-25.
In the third set, both players broke the ball early on, but the score remained the same at 13-13 until the middle of the set. However, OP Petkovic was caught in a block by Monza consecutively to make it 13-15, and then MB Galassi's service ace put Monza ahead by three points at 14-17.
Padova replaced OP Petkovic with OP Guzzo, but Monza's momentum continued, and they continued to score points with a service ace from S. Zimmermann and Padova's mistakes, and Monza took the set 17-25.
In the fourth set, Monza took the lead at 6-8 with a spike from OH Daviskiba, and then extended the lead to 12-8 with a spike from OH Marr and a service ace from MB DeMartini.
However, Padua also got a side out with a spike from OH Takahashi, and then OH Takahashi and MB Volpato stopped OP Grozelle in succession from MB Crosart's serve, tying the score at 15-15.
Monza brought OP Schwartz back, but Padua's momentum was unstoppable, with OH Takahashi's spikes, MB Volpato's attacks and blocks, and Monza's mistakes putting them in a 5-point lead at 23-18 going into the final minutes.
In the end, OP Petkovic scored two consecutive spikes to give Padova the set back, 25-20.
In the fifth set, Padova made consecutive mistakes at the start, leading to a score of 0-2, but with MB Volpato's blocks and OH Takahashi's spikes from difficult high sets, Padova managed to break consecutively and turn the game around to take a 6-5 lead.
Padua then extended their lead to 2 points with an attack from OP Petkovic at 9-7, and then continued to get side outs due to serve errors, making the score 13-12.
Here, MB Galassi scored a point from a ball returned from a powerful serve by OH Marr, tying the score at 13-13 for Monza.
However, OP Petkovic got the side out immediately afterwards, and finally MB Volpato blocked MB Galassi from OH Takahashi's serve, and Padova took the set 15-13 and won against Monza 3-2.
MVP: MB Marco Volpato (9 points (6 blocks), attack success rate 331 TP 3T)
Takahashi Ai led both teams with 21 points (4 on serves and 1 on blocks), with an attack success rate of 621 TP3T and a serve receive success rate of 421 TP3T.
As a result, Padua remains in 10th place with 7 wins, 13 losses and 18 points.
The team's next match will be against third-placed Trento at home on Sunday, March 5th at 18:00 local time (2:00 am Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
To be honest, I didn't think they would be able to come back and win the game given the situation up until the middle of the fourth set.
I underestimated the team called Padova.
Indeed, our Ran Takahashi was in top form today, scoring three service aces early in the match, and ultimately finishing with the most points of both teams with 21, an attack success rate of 62%, and 24 serve receives without conceding a single point, putting up some incredible numbers.
But, I know this is a bit of a luxury, but Takahashi is already amazing as usual (lol), so unless everyone except Takahashi works hard, Padua will not be able to win.
Among all the plays, Captain Volpato's blocks stood out in this match.
Almost all of the key points in the match were blocks by Volpato, including the first point right after the start of the match, the moments when the match was tied in the fourth and fifth sets, and the final match point.
Looking at the stats alone, it may seem strange that Volpato, who certainly had six blocks but only scored a total of nine points, was chosen as MVP rather than Takahashi, who scored 21 points, but when you consider the situations in which he scored those block points, it makes sense.
The 32-year-old veteran midfielder is in his 11th season with Padua and is nicknamed "Fox."
The only Italian players I know who have played for one team for such a long time are him and Zlatanov (who previously played for Piacenza for 15 seasons and is now its sporting director) (please let me know if there are any others).
There were quite a few occasions this season when he was substituted by MB Canella, so I'm glad that our captain was able to receive the MVP award here.
Of course, it wasn't just Takahashi and himself; OH Gardini, who was in the starting lineup for the first time, also contributed with his spikes and serves, MB Crosart's serve aimed at his opponent OH Ma in the fourth set was amazing, OP Petkovic left the court halfway through but returned, S Saitta also won the set carefully, and L Zenger also made a great contribution with his serve receive and digs while covering for Gardini quite a bit.
I really think it was a great game, including the dramatic turn of events!
Of course, Monza was also a great team, and in particular, wing player Maher scored 20 points, second only to Takahashi, and had an incredible attack success rate of 671 TP3T.He was a really troublesome player until the end, as his serve helped them tie the score at 13-13 in the final set.
Marr has changed teams every season, from Milan to Cisterna to Monza, but I feel that he is a great player who has made his presence felt in each team, thanks to his passionate character.
Speaking of Canadians, Schwartz from the opposite team and OH Lepke from Taranto are both good players, so I'm looking forward to this year's Canadian national team (I wonder if Vernon from Sakai will make it? (laughs))
Once again, Takahashi's performance is amazing.
But what's especially amazing is that it's amazing every time.
There may be many other players who excel in terms of explosiveness in a single game, but he is able to maintain this level of excellence in almost every play, so I truly believe he is a top-class player.
As for his serve, I'm no longer surprised when he gets service aces in a row (laughs).
Nishida, who played in Italy last season, also seemed to have the same impression, so there's no doubt that Takahashi is now in that realm.
In any case, Padua has earned two valuable points and taken a step out of the relegation battle.
It has not yet been confirmed that they will remain in the league, but looking at their upcoming opponents, Taranto and Siena, who are also fighting to stay in the league, I think the chances of relegation have become significantly lower.
However, we still can't let our guard down, so I hope they will fight to win the next match against Trento.
In particular, I think Takahashi was frustrated by being restrained for some reason in the first half of the game at home to Trent, so I hope he will make up for it by going all out in the next game at home to Padua.
I'm also looking forward to seeing him go up against OH Micheletto from Trento, who is the same age as Takahashi and who, like Takahashi, has experience as a libero in the past (although Micheletto is over 20cm taller (lol)).
I will also be there for the Trento match!!
Forza Padova!!!
The report for the first half is here:
Photo: Lega Pallovolo Serie A
English 
Japanese