In the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, the Italian men's volleyball team, Monza, where Takahashi Ai plays, played against Trentino on Saturday, January 27th (local time) and won 3-2 (23-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9). Takahashi Ai was benched due to injury.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Marr (Canada), Lepke (Canada)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Cachopa (Brazil)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Trentino
OH: Micheletto (Italy), Lavia (Italy)
MB: Kozamelnik (Slovenia), Podrascanin (Serbia)
OP: Lihiritzki (Luxembourg)
S: Sbertori (Italy)
L: Laurenzano (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Trentino took the lead 1-4 with blocks from OH Lavia. Monza turned the game around with blocks from OH Lepki and MB Di Martino to take a 10-9 lead, and the match was close from there. After that, Trentino took the lead again with spikes from OP Lichlicki at 17-19, but Monza also turned the game around again with spikes from OH Marr and OH Lepki at 23-21 in the final stages. However, Trentino broke the match with a service ace from OH Lavia and had the first set point at 23-24, but OP Lichlicki made a block to take the set at 23-25.
In the second set, MB Galassi's spike and service ace put Monza in front at 3-1. OH Lepke's two service aces and other breaks gave Monza three consecutive breaks, widening their lead to 8-3. After that, they fought for side-outs and went up 14-10, but Monza broke due to Trentino's mistakes and other mistakes, making it 19-12. From there, OH Marr's serve and OH Lepke's spikes gave Monza consecutive breaks at once, putting them at 24-13 and giving them a set point. S Cachopa made a block at the end and Monza took the set at 25-13.
In the third set, the match was close from the beginning, with Monza scoring points mainly from OH Mar and Trentino scoring points mainly from OH Lavia, leading to a score of 8-8. From there, Monza took a break with a pipe attack from OH Mar to make it 10-8, but Trentino took the lead at 10-11 with a spike from OH Magarini (Italy), who entered the match as a substitute. After that, both teams broke but the score remained the same, and the match progressed to 15-15. Trentino took a three-point lead at 16-19 with a block from OH Magarini and a spike from OP Lihilicki, but Monza quickly tied the score at 19-19 with a spike from MB Galassi. However, with a block from MB Podrascanin and a spike from OH Lavia, Trentino made multiple breaks in the final stages, leading to a set point at 21-24, but in the end, OH Lepki's serve was a mistake, and Trentino took the set at 23-25.
In the fourth set, Trentino scored points with a service ace from MB Kozamelnik and a spike from OP Lichlicki, leading 5-8. Monza made more mistakes and the score difference widened to 6-10. In the middle of the set, Monza closed the gap to 14-15 with a pipe attack from OH Lepki, but Trentino again widened the gap to 16-20 with spikes from OH Lavia and OH Micheletto. However, a service ace from MB Galassi and a spike mistake from Trentino brought Monza back to within one point at 21-22. From there, a block from MB Schwartz tied the score at 23-23, and finally, consecutive spike mistakes from OP Lichlicki made it 25-23, giving Monza the set.
In the fifth set, Monza took a 5-4 lead after breaking with an ace from MB Galassi, then widened the gap to 8-5 with a block from OH Lepke and a service ace from S Cachopa. Monza then took the match point at 14-7 with a spike from MB Di Martino and a block from MB Galassi, but in the end, Trentino's serve went wrong, and Monza won the set at 15-9.
The result was a 3-2 victory for Monza over Trentino.
Monza has now qualified for the Coppa Italia final, where they will face Perugia at 23:45 on Sunday, the 28th (Japan time).
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Photo: volleyball.it
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