In the second leg of the Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV) Challenge Cup quarterfinals, Monza, where Takahashi Ai plays, played against Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) on Wednesday, January 17th (local time) and won 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-21). Takahashi Ai contributed to the victory with a team-high 18 points.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Lepke (Canada), Takahashi
MB: Compaloni (Italy), Beretta (Italy)
OP: Mujanovic (Slovenia)
S: Klering (Brazil)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Levski Sofia
OH: Toro (Argentina), Garkov (Bulgaria)
MB: Gotzev (Bulgaria), Moreira (Brazil)
OP: Titliski (Bulgaria)
S: Nikolov (Bulgaria)
L: Ivanov (Bulgaria)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Monza scored points with spikes from Takahashi and Levski Sofia with spikes from OP Titliski, and the match continued with the score tied at 7-7. From there, Levski Sofia took the lead with a service ace from S Nikolov to take the lead at 7-9, and then they broke with pipe attacks from OH Toro and Monza's mistakes to further widen the gap to 13-18. However, when Monza was down 16-20, they brought in relief server MB Di Martino (Italy), and with three consecutive breaks, including a service ace from Monza, they closed the gap to 19-20, just one point behind. Then, from the serve from OP Mujanovic, they scored five consecutive breaks with a service ace from OH Takahashi and a spike from OH Takahashi, and Monza took the set with a score of 25-21.
In the second set, Monza took a 4-1 lead with consecutive blocks from the beginning. Furthermore, the opponent's mistakes and OH Takahashi's blocks extended the lead to 11-5. From there, S Nikolov's service ace narrowed the gap to 11-8, but after that, OH Takahashi's serve was followed by a spike from OH Repki and three service aces from OH Takahashi, resulting in a furious 8 consecutive breaks, including a 20-8 lead, and Monza pulled away from Levski Sofia. In the final stages, Monza continued to break with blocks from OP Mujanovic, and Monza reached set point at 24-10, and finally OH Repki scored a spike to take the set 25-12.
Monza had already won the first leg against Levski Sofia 3-0, so their place in the semi-finals was already assured at this point.
In the third set, Monza started with S. Visic and L. Marazzini. In the early stages, Levski Sofia took a 1-4 lead with consecutive blocks from OP Titliski. However, Monza turned the game around with a service ace from OH Lepki to 6-5, and then extended their lead to 10-6 with a face block from OH Takahashi who put his life on the line. After that, the match continued at Monza's pace with spikes and service aces from OP Mujanovic and blocks from MB Beretta, leading to 17-11, but with four consecutive breaks from a serve by OH Kandev (Bulgaria) who entered the match as a substitute, and blocks from S. Nikolov, Levski Sofia closed the gap to 18-17. However, Monza continued to score points with spikes from OP Mujanovic and blocks from MB Compaloni, putting them at match point at 24-20, and finally OP Mujanovic scored a powerful spike to make it 25-21, giving Monza the set.
As a result, Monza won 3-0 against Levski Sofia.
MVP: OP Nik Mujanovic 14 points (2 serves, 1 block) Attack efficiency rate 29.621 TP 3T
OH Takahashi Ai 18 points (3 serves, 2 blocks) Attack effectiveness rate 61.11%
The first leg of the CEV Challenge Cup semi-final will be against Galatasaray Istanbul (Türkiye) on one of the last weekdays of January.
CEV Challenge Cup Men:http://www.cev.eu/match-centres/2024-european-cups/cev-volleyball-challenge-cup-2024-men/
The next Italian league match will be against Taranto on Sunday, January 21st at 12:30am Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Comments from Ai Takahashi after the match
Today, we started off very well. I was a little unwell in the last match against Modena, so it was a bit difficult in terms of condition, but I was able to get myself in good shape and play well in today's match, so I think we were able to play a good game that will carry us into the second half of the season.
Toshiki's comment
I watched this match live.
It was raining in Monza. I got the left half of my jeans dirty while riding a shared bicycle from my hotel to the venue (because I was riding on the right-hand side of the road).
The last time I saw him play in person was at the end of the year against Civitanova, when they lost the game and Takahashi was exhausted, including in terms of his condition, so I was looking forward to the team's victory and Takahashi's performance on this day.
Their opponent this time, Levski Sofia, was the same team Monza beat 3-0 in the first leg without even fielding a full lineup, so it seemed likely they would finish the game quickly this day as well.
Even so, the stadium was deserted that day. Well, they had just played a home game on Sunday, so it was probably to be expected that it wouldn't be a particularly interesting game.
The atmosphere at practice in Monza was as friendly as ever.
Takahashi showed off some sharp spikes right from the warm-up, but his teammates looked worried as they spoke to him, which made me think that he might not be in top condition yet.
To be honest, his performance in Sunday's match against Modena was far from his usual standard.
The match started like this. Monza's starting lineup was pretty much as expected. On the outside, Marr, who played the full match against Modena, was rested and Takahashi-Lepki was placed opposite.
From the beginning of the first set, Cachopa used Takahashi a lot. He used him a lot, as if to check his condition. And Takahashi responded by scoring a lot. His movements were also good.
However, they were defeated by the opponent's strong serves and gradually lost points.
In particular, Simeon Nikolov (17-year-old younger brother of Nikolov who plays at Civitanova) has an amazing serve. He's just like his older brother. And he's a setter. He's 206cm tall. His arms are longer than his height, so his setup position is extremely high.
There were also cases where the combination of Cachopa and Beretta did not work well and resulted in goals being conceded.
Sofia was leading by 5 points at 15-20. Normally, it would have been no surprise if she had lost the set, but she broke three times in a row from DiMartino's serve to save her, making it 19-20. On the 18th point, Takahashi made a super play by smashing the ball that Cachopa had dug into the net.
Mujanovic's serve was explosive. He's not very stable yet, but when he hits it, he's amazing.
And before I knew it, Monza had won the first set 25-21. Is this the strength of the Italian league?
From the second set onwards, the match progressed almost at Monza's pace. In the middle of the second set, Takahashi's serve was broken eight times in a row, and the match was decided in one go, from 12-8 to 20-8. The last four points were four consecutive serve points, including the de facto ones. Our Ran Takahashi was in full swing.
Perhaps because the score difference had widened and he was feeling more relaxed, Takahashi was smiling and seemed to be enjoying playing after this. He was grinning and excited when spiking and receiving the ball. Good for you.
They then won the second set with a large margin of 25-12, securing their place in the semi-finals. For the third set, the setter and libero were replaced by reserve players.
There, the opponent's spike hit Takahashi's face as he jumped to block it. The ball fell neatly into the opponent's court, earning a block point, but he couldn't move properly for a moment and looked like he was in a lot of pain... But thankfully, he didn't suffer any serious injuries to his face.
Sofia was catching up in this set, from 18-12 to 18-17, but in the end, Takahashi and Mujanovic closed it out and Monza won 3-0. The match time was 77 minutes. It was compact.
Takahashi was the best scorer and had an impeccable performance with an attack efficiency rate of over 60%, but the MVP went to Mujanovic. I don't agree with it, but I understand that the team wants to give it to him when they can.
I think Mujanovic has potential, so I want him to work on raising the cutoff point for his attacks and improving his soft shots. It would be no good if he couldn't reach an attack effectiveness rate of 301 TP 3T against Sofia.
In the post-match interview, Takahashi smiled more than he did at the end of the year. That was a relief, but he still seemed tired.
For now, I hope that they will be in top condition for the Coppa Italia at the end of this month.
Photo: CEV, author
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