【髙橋藍】モンツァ、強豪ペルージャに惜敗。髙橋は14得点の活躍

[Takahashi Ai] Monza loses to the powerful Perugia. Takahashi scores 14 points

October 30, 2023 October 5, 2024

In the second round of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Monza, the team Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Perugia at home on Sunday, October 29th (local time) and lost 0-3 (23-25, 30-32, 22-25).

Takahashi Ai started and scored 14 points, 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)

Perugia

OH: Leon (Poland), Semeniuk (Poland)
MB: Sole (Argentina/Italy), Flavio (Brazil)
OP: Herrera (Cuba)
S: Giannelli (Italy)
L: Coraci (Italy)

*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero

Match Report

In the first set, both teams broke the ball early on, but the score remained the same and the match continued at 10-10. After that, MB Flavio's spikes and OP Herrera's service aces gave Perugia a 16-18 lead, but Monza also scored consecutive points with OH Mar's blocks and took the lead to 19-18. However, in the final stages, OH Mar's spikes were missed consecutively, and Perugia took the lead again at 21-22. From there, Monza scored points with OH Takahashi's attacks, but in the end, MB Flavio's block was just on the edge of the court, and Perugia took the set 23-25.

In the second set, Monza started off with spikes from OH Takahashi and OP Schwartz, scoring points to extend their lead to 9-5. However, OH Leon's blocks and spikes narrowed the gap to 18-16, and Perugia scored four consecutive breaks with a service ace from OH Semeniuk's serve to turn the game around to 21-23. After that, Perugia made consecutive mistakes, and Monza tied the score at 23-23, and the game went to deuce. Monza had a chance to hold the set point at 28-27 with spikes and blocks from OH Takahashi Ai, but in the end, OP Herrera made consecutive blocks to win the set at 30-32.

In the third set, Monza took the lead 6-4 with OP Schwartz scoring points in the early stages. In the middle stages, Perugia scored four consecutive points with MB Flavio's spikes and took the lead to 11-15, but Monza made a series of mistakes and caught up at 15-15. However, OH Semeniuk scored consecutive spikes during the rallies, and Perugia took the lead again at 16-19. In the final stages, Monza tied the score at 21-21 with OH Marr's blocks and service aces, but in the end, substitute OH Plotnitski (Ukraine) blocked OP Schwartz and Perugia took the set 22-25.

As a result, Monza lost to Perugia 0-3.

MVP: OH Kamil Semeniuk (14 points (1 serve), 50% attack success rate)

Takahashi Ai had 14 points (including 1 block) and an attack success rate of 651 TP and 3 T.

Their next match will be against Modena on Monday, November 6th at 1:00am Japan time.

Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home

Takahashi Ai's post-match comments (translated from the English interview)

I felt the pressure from Perugia during the match. We played very well, but we needed to show more passion towards the end of the set. I think we need to improve on that mental strength in the future.

Photo: legapallavoloseriea

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立花孝志 says:

2023年10月30日 at 6:57 AM

You can't call it a close loss, even though it was a strikeout loss. Every set was exciting, but in the end we didn't win a single set.
Perugia had good blocking, and in the second set they competed until deuce, but Fernando's tossing was a bit iffy. In the transition at the end of the third set, a toss mistake to Arthur and a toss to Martino that was too short to hit were particularly fatal. They were competing in every set, but the difference with Perugia became apparent towards the end. They still had some sloppy finishing. Perugia's members are not that different from last year, so they're playing calmly. Martino is a floater, but he made too many serve mistakes from the first game. Is that why he can't bring out Beretta? He's also bad at passing, and his middle is being targeted with serves. Ai made a lot of serve mistakes. His spikes and receives are good, but his serves and blocks weren't very effective. Did he stop one?
Ma was being targeted for receiving, but he was puffing his pipes and couldn't score at all. He wasn't hitting the ball well today. But even when Ma was thrown off balance, Ai was able to block three high balls and score, so he's become more reliable. Ai's spikes and serves have improved since the Olympics. His experience in the Italian league is impressive. And libero Gaggini. I want him to work harder. There were so many balls he could have caught, right? He got deflected by Leon's serve, so Ai is just better. He couldn't hit the two-stage toss that he was trying to connect, so he needs to work harder as a libero!