In the preliminary round for the 5th place playoff in the Italian Men's Volleyball League Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova, played against Cisterna at home on Sunday, April 2nd local time, and won 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-23).
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Gardini (Italy), De Smet (Belgium)
MB: Canella (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Guzzo (Italy)
S: Zoppellari (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Cisterna
OH: Bayram (Türkiye), Gutierrez (Cuba)
MB: Mattei (Italy), Rossi (Italy)
OP: Martinez (Italy)
S: Zanni (Italy)
L: Stafolini (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, Padua started off with three consecutive breaks, including a service ace, from S. Zoppellari's serve to take a 3-0 lead.
From there, the match continued to be close, with both players breaking serve, and the score was 17-17.
However, Padua continued to score consecutive points with a service ace from S. Zoppellari and a spike from OP Guzzo, and took a sudden lead of 23-18.And finally, with a spike from OP Guzzo, Padua took the set with a score of 25-19.
In the second set, Padua scored points mainly from OP Guzzo and Cisterna scored points mainly from OP Martinez, but Padua took the lead 7-5 with a service ace from OH Gardini.
After that, the game progressed with Padova leading 17-15 in a battle for side outs, but in the final minutes, Cisterna tied the score at 22-22 with a block from MB Dzinger, who came on as a substitute.
However, a block by MB Canella put Padua on match point at 24-22, and finally OP Martinez missed a spike, giving Padua the set at 25-22.
In the third set, Padua started off with an ace from S. Zoppellari, a spike from OP Guzzo, and a block, giving them a big lead of 5-0.
In the middle of the game, OH Gardini's spike and MB Canella's block led to three consecutive breaks, further widening the gap to 15-6.
From there, Cisterna scored one point after another towards the end of the game with a block from OH Byram, a spike from MB Rossi, and a spike from MB Dzinger, closing the gap to just one point at 23-22.
However, in the end, OP Guzzo scored a spike to win the set 25-23, and Padova went on to win the match against Cisterna 3-0.
MVP: OP Tomasso Guzzo (20 points (including 3 blocks), attack success rate 57%)
Ai Takahashi played as a relief receiver in the second set but did not score any points.
Padua now has two wins and one loss (provisionally in first place) in the 5th place qualifying round.
The next match will be against Taranto at home on Wednesday, April 12th at 8:30pm local time (3:30am Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
To be honest, it's hard to watch these qualifying matches for the 5th place deciding match.
Especially while Milan and other teams are fighting each and every match in the playoffs, which are very stressful, it gives me mixed feelings to see a game like this, where there is no pressure on either team and it doesn't matter whether they win or lose.
In addition, our opponent this time, Cisterna, had lost two key players, OP Dilić and OH Sedlacek, since the last time we played there, so the team was playing with just 10 registered players.
This also shows how little importance this qualifier for the 5th place deciding match is.
It's true that there are some enjoyable elements, such as being able to see players who didn't perform well in the regular season, such as OP Guzzo and S. Zoppellari, and seeing Cisterna's MB Dzinger's side spikes, but the lack of motivation is obvious, so it's hard to get excited about watching it.
As a Takahashi fan, it would be fine if Takahashi would actually appear, but that's not happening.
But if things continue like this, Padua will likely win.
I wonder what I'll do if that happens...
Photo: Lega Pallavolo SerieA
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