In the 9th round of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Monza, the team that Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Catania on Sunday, December 10th (local time) and won 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-12, 25-18). Takahashi Ai started the game and scored 19 points, earning him the MVP award of the match.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Takahashi (Japan), Lepke (Canada)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Fernando (Brazil)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Catania
OH: Basic (France), Randazzo (Italy)
MB: Tondo (Italy), Masurovic (Serbia)
OP: Bucchegger (Germany)
S: Orduna (Argentina)
L: Cavaccini (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Monza took the lead 8-3 with consecutive points from OH Takahashi's spikes and MB DiMartino's blocks. Monza then widened the gap to 12-5 with a block from OH Takahashi and 18-12 with a service ace from OH Lepke. Monza also scored consecutive points from OH Takahashi's serve with his own spikes at the end of the set point at 24-15, but the opponent's serve ended in an error, and Monza took the set 25-16.
In the second set, Catania took the lead 0-3 with a spike from OP Bucchegger. Monza then caught up with a service ace from MB Galassi to make it 12-12, and from there it was a close match with both teams trading breaks. Monza continued to score points, mainly from OH Takahashi, to make it 21-21, but Catania took the set point with a spike from OP Bucchegger at 22-24. Finally, Catania took the set with a service ace from MB Tondo, 22-25.
In the third set, Monza took the lead 7-4 early on with service aces from MB Galassi and MB Di Martino. Monza then scored seven consecutive points from S Fernando's serve, with spikes from OH Takahashi and blocks from MB Galassi, widening the gap to 14-5. After that, Monza extended their lead to 20-8 with spikes from OH Takahashi and blocks from MB Di Martino, and finally, consecutive blocks from MB Galassi and OH Takahashi led Monza to 25-12.
The fourth set was a close one at the beginning, but MB Galassi's block put Monza in front at 8-6. Then, with MB Di Martino's block and other efforts, they succeeded in four consecutive breaks and extended their lead to 13-7. Catania also narrowed the gap to 15-12 with OH Randazzo's spikes and blocks, but Monza again widened the gap to 19-14 with OH Takahashi's spikes and other efforts. After that, MB Di Martino's spikes and blocks extended the gap to 24-17 and reached match point, and finally, OH Takahashi scored a pipe attack to win the set 25-18.
As a result, Monza won against Catania 3-1.
MVP: OH Takahashi Ai 19 points (including 3 blocks), attack efficiency rate 53.57%
This puts Monza in provisional fourth place with a total record of 6 wins, 3 losses and 17 points.
The next match will be against Padova, where Wataru Taniguchi plays, at 2:00 a.m. on Monday, December 18th, Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Photo: legavolley.it
You can read the latest issue of Monthly Volleyball for less than half price ↓↓↓
English 
Japanese