In the 5th place deciding match of the Italian Men's Volleyball League Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova, played against Perugia at home on Sunday, April 30th (local time) and won 3-1 (18-25, 26-24, 34-32, 25-18).
Takahashi came on as a substitute in the first three sets and scored five points.
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)
Perugia
OH: Semeniuk (Poland), Plotnicki (Ukraine)
MB: Sole (Argentina/Italy), Mengozzi (Italy)
OP: Lihilicki (Luxembourg/Italy)
S: Loplet (Slovenia)
L: Piccinelli (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, Perugia made a series of mistakes early on, allowing Padua to take the lead 8-5.
However, spikes from Semeniuk and Plotnicki, followed by further errors from Padova, gave Perugia a large lead at 11-15, and then blocks from Mengozzi and Sole extended their lead to 14-21.
Padua also scored points with spikes from Guardini, but in the end, Crosart made a serve error and Perugia took the set 18-25.
In the second set, Perugia, who had secured first place by winning the first set, started the match with Cardenas (OH, Cuba) in place of Plotnicki.
The match was close from the beginning, with Padua scoring mainly through Gardini and De Smet, while Perugia scored mainly through Cardenas and Lihilicki, to advance to 8-8 and 17-17.
From there, Padua took the lead at 19-17 with a service ace from De Smet, and with the help of some mistakes from Perugia, Padua got the first set point at 24-23.
The game then went to deuce, but Guzzo and De Smet scored consecutive spikes to give Padua the set, 26-24.
In the early stages of the third set, Perugia took a big lead at 2-8 thanks to spikes from Semeniuk and Cardenas.
However, Padua narrowed the gap to 7-10 with consecutive service aces from Gardini, and then continued to break with service aces from De Smet and a block from substitute Asparuhov (OP, Bulgaria), and successfully turned the game around to 16-15.
From there, Padua extended their lead to 21-18 with a spike from Asparuhov, but a block from Asparuhov and a spike error from Padua gave Perugia the first set point at 23-24, and the game went to deuce.
As both teams traded points, Takahashi (OH), who came in as a substitute, scored a service ace to put Padua back on top at 30-29, and then Takahashi's final block was successful, giving Padua the win at 34-32.
In the fourth set, Perugia took a 3-6 lead early on thanks to blocks from Mengozzi.
However, aces from Asparuhov and Gardini put Padua back on target at 8-8, and then they added some good spikes to take the lead to 15-12.
After that, Padua extended their lead to 23-17 with a service ace from Gardini and a spike from De Smet.
In the end, Asparuhov's block was successful and Padua took the set 25-18, winning against Perugia 3-1.
MVP: OH Mathis De Smet (18 points (3 serves, 1 block), attack success rate 611 TP3T, serve reception success rate 55%)
Takahashi Ai scored 5 points (1 on serve and 1 on block), with an attack success rate of 751 TP3T and a serve receive success rate of 881 TP3T.
With this, Padova's record in the 5th place match was 2 wins, 2 losses and 5 points, and they advanced to the tournament in 3rd place out of 5 teams.
Next up, they will play away against Monza, who finished in second place, on Sunday, May 7th at 18:00 local time (1:00 the next morning Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
Padua wins against Perugia!!!
I think Perugia's players were less motivated and their motivation was low after the second set, when they were assured of finishing in first place, but it's still great that they managed to win.
Moreover, Padua also won by conserving Takahashi for the most part, so I think this is a big sign of growth.
In particular, De Smet, who continued to play in matches in Takahashi's absence, has shown great growth.
My serve receive has become a lot more stable, and I feel like I've become more competitive with my serves.
Asparuhov, who is originally an outside player but is playing as an opposite, is also in very good form.
However, when the third set went to deuce, Takahashi, who came in as a substitute, supported the team with every play and it was all Takahashi's doing (laughs).
It's truly amazing that he was able to enter the court midway through such a pressure-filled situation and perform like that; I can only say that he's truly impressive.
In that short time, his serve receive was as stable as always, but it was also a highlight-packed moment with all of his good plays, including digs, front attacks, pipe attacks, service aces, and the block point that secured the set (laughs).
I think just watching this is enough to get a sense of how much he's grown this season.
This meant that Padua finished third and not only advanced to the tournament, but their opponent changed from the originally expected Perugia to Monza, shortening the travel time and significantly increasing their chances of winning.
However, I don't think Coach Cuttini will use Takahashi as his main player in the next match either...
I plan to go and watch the next game in person, so I really hope Takahashi will be in the starting lineup.
But there are rumors that Takahashi himself will be at Monza next season, so maybe it would be better for him to win at Monza? (laughs)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the match in a week!!!
Photo: Lega Pallovolo Serie A
English 
Japanese