In the 5th place deciding match of the Italian Men's Volleyball League Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova, played against Monza away on Saturday, April 22nd (local time) and lost 0-3 (21-25, 21-25, 22-25).
Takahashi started in the starting lineup and scored nine points, tying the team high.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Takahashi (Japan), De Smet (Belgium)
MB: Canella (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Guzzo (Italy)
S: Zoppellari (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Monza
OH: Marr (Canada), Dawyskiba (Belarus)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Beretta (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Fernando (Brazil)
L: Federici (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's Takahashi and Monza's Schwartz scored points early on, and the match continued with the score tied at 9-9.
However, with spikes from Marr and blocks from Beretta, Monza continued to break and take a 10-14 lead.
Towards the end of the match, Padua narrowed the gap to 20-22 with a spike from Cannella and a block from Guzzo, but in the end, a spike from Beretta was successful and Monza took the set 21-25.
In the second set, Padua scored points early on with spikes from De Smet, but continued to make serve errors and was unable to take a break, leaving the set tied at 9-9.
However, a service ace from Galassi and an attack from Marr put Monza ahead at 9-13, and then with attacks from Daviskiba and blocks from Schwartz, Monza continued to score consecutive points and widened the gap to 14-21.
In the final stages, Padua narrowed the gap to 20-23 with some blocks from substitute Gardini (OH, Italy), but in the end Gardini made a serve error and Monza took the set 21-25.
In the early stages of the third set, Padua took a 5-2 lead thanks to a spike from Asparuhov (OP, Bulgaria), who started the set, and consecutive service aces from Volpato (MB, Italy).
Monza then tied the score at 10-10 with some spikes from Grosser (OP, Germany), who also started in the set, and from there the match continued to be close with both teams breaking but the score gap not widening and the score finished at 18-18.
However, with spikes from Marr and other efforts, Monza took the lead 18-21, and with a final block from Beretta, Monza took the set 22-25.
As a result, Padova lost to Monza 0-3.
MVP: OP: Arthur Schwartz (13 points (including 3 blocks), attack success rate 631 TP 3T)
Takahashi Ai was tied for the team lead with 9 points, with an attack success rate of 501 TP3T and a serve receive success rate of 631 TP3T.
With this, Padua's record in the 5th place match is 1 win, 2 losses and 2 points, putting them in 4th place out of 5 teams (teams ranked 4th or higher will advance to the tournament).
The team's next game will be against Monza away on Sunday, April 30th at 18:00 local time (1:00 am Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
Why did they take Takahashi out of the match for the third set?
I don't understand Padua's stance on the 5th place match...
During the qualifiers, it was understandable that they were fighting with the stance of doing as much as they could with players who will remain with them next season, but once they got to the finals, in the first game against Verona, Takahashi, who will probably not remain with Padua next season, was in the starting lineup, while in the game against Modena they used the same formation as in the qualifiers.
He was in the starting lineup for the Monza match, but for some reason was taken out of the team from the third set onwards...
It's true that he was blocked three times, but De Smet, who was opposite him, also lost the same number of attacks, and Takahashi was far better in terms of attack success rate and serve receive success rate, so if there was going to be a change, I think it should have been De Smet.
In the third set, Asparuhov, who was playing opposite, also seemed to be in good form, so I think that if Takahashi had continued to play, he might have been able to take the set and even come back to win.
It would be nice if they were clear that if they were going to win, they were going to win and prepare for next season, but it was stressful to watch because it was too unclear what the manager and staff wanted to do (laughs).
I think Asparuhov probably won't be staying in the group either, so it was a good thing that Takahashi was there too.
Monza also fought with players like Davischiva and Federici, who will be moving to Modena next season, so Padua should do their best too.
Half-heartedness is not good.
Well, I think Takahashi himself is the one who is most uneasy about this issue when he practices and plays in matches, but he is still performing so well, so I hope Coach Cuttini will use him in a way that reflects that.
The next match is in a week against Perugia, and I hope they will go all out there.
Photo: Lega Pallovolo Serie A
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