In the first round of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Monza, the team that Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Civitanova away on Sunday, October 22nd local time, and won 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22).
Takahashi Ai started and scored 15 points, tied for second on the team.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Ma (Canada), Takahashi
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Fernando (Brazil)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Civitanova
OH: Zaitsev (Italy), Nikolov (Italy)
MB: Sinenieze (France), Diamantini (Italy)
OP: Laguncia (Türkiye)
S: Dececco (Argentina)
L: Barrasso (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, Civitanova took the lead 3-5 with a spike from OH Nikolov. However, Monza turned the game around with a 10-7 lead thanks to a block from OP Schwartz and a fake set from OH Marr, scored by OH Takahashi. Monza continued to lead 16-12 with a spike from OP Schwartz and a service ace from OH Marr. Monza made a series of mistakes towards the end, tying the score at 19-19, but in the end, S Fernando scored a service ace to take the set 25-23.
In the second set, Civitanova led 2-5 at the beginning thanks to spikes from OH Nikolov and blocks from MB Diamantini. However, Monza managed to turn the game around with a 10-8 lead thanks to blocks from MB Galassi and three consecutive service aces from OH Marr, and continued to lead 19-17 thanks to spikes from OH Takahashi and OP Schwartz. In the final stages, Monza scored three consecutive breaks with two service aces from OH Takahashi, giving them a set point at 24-19. Finally, OP Lagungia's serve was a mistake, and Monza won the set 25-21.
In the third set, Civitanova led 5-8 with a service ace from S. Dececco. However, in the middle of the set, Monza managed to turn the game around with two consecutive service aces from OH Takahashi to make it 15-14, and then MB Galassi scored consecutive points with blocks and spikes to take a 19-15 lead. From there, Civitanova tied the score at 21-21 with service aces from substitutes OH Janto (Cuba) and S. Tere (Norway), but OH Takahashi broke the bad flow with a spike to make it 22-21, and finally MB Di Martino's block made it 25-22 to give Monza the set.
The result was a 3-0 victory for Monza over Civitanova.
MVP: OP Arthur Schwartz (17 points (including 3 blocks), attack success rate 64%)
Takahashi Ai scored 15 points (5 on serve), with an attack success rate of 671 TP and 3 T, and a serve receive success rate of 42%.
The next match will be against Perugia at home on Monday, October 30th at 3:30am Japan time.
League website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Thoughts etc.
Monza is strong!!!
All seven starters did a good job and grabbed the victory. The opening game was away, and the opponent was Civitanova, the runner-up of last season, but they didn't care and won in straight sets. Moreover, they were behind in the early stages of each set, but came from behind to win. Even if they are behind in the early stages, they can make a comeback and win the set at the end, which is a sign of a strong team.
All three side hitters had a very high success rate in attacks (Takahashi Ai had a success rate of 67% and no losses!!!). Aside from attacks, Schwartz on the opposite side got three points with a block, and the outside hitters Takahashi and Ma each got five aces! They only played three sets, so five aces each is pretty crazy...
The two middle players did a good job at key points, and libero Gaggini didn't collapse. And above all, setter Fernando's pitching was outstanding. He was at Monza last season, but he suffered a serious injury before the start of the season and wasn't able to return until the playoffs. So I was relieved to see him in the starting lineup from the start of the season this year.
In Padua, the only reliable attackers were Takahashi and Petkovic, so he was quite dependent on these two, but this time at Monza, the overall level of the players has improved, so everyone can score, and I think Takahashi is able to play more relaxed. Still, he will be eager to become the "core" of any team.
In terms of defence, they conceded three goals in serve reception in this game, which was not what they usually call a receiving demon, but I think this is also due to a problem with teamwork with their teammates, so they will surely continue to improve from now on.
The team atmosphere seems to be very good. We saw the combination of Ma's fake set and Takahashi's spike from the first set (thank you). This really makes us hopeful that they will advance to the top four.
On the other hand, Civitanova seemed to lack stability, especially in the opening game, especially in the side attackers. But Civitanova has been able to turn up at the end of the season and advance to the finals for the past few years, so I guess it's just business as usual for the team (laughs). But Nikolov's offensive power is still as amazing as ever.
And the Monza uniform! In recent years it's had a strange color scheme and looked a bit eccentric, but this year it looks really cool! I want one of those too.
Next up is our home game against Perugia. We have a string of tough opponents, but we want to win two in a row and keep the momentum going!!!
Photo: legapallavoloseriea
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