In the final of the Coppa Italia, the Italian men's volleyball team, Monza, which Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Perugia on Sunday, January 28th (local time) and lost 1-3 (25-22, 21-25, 15-25, 23-25). 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)
Perugia
OH: Semeniuk (Poland), Plotnicki (Ukraine)
MB: Flavio (Brazil), Russo (Italy)
OP: Bentara (Tunisia)
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, Monza scored points mainly from OP Schwartz and Perugia from OP Ventara, and the match progressed to 6-6. From there, Monza took the lead at 9-6 with spikes and blocks from OH Lepke, and then broke with blocks from MB Di Martino and spikes from OP Schwartz to extend the lead to 14-9. Perugia also narrowed the gap to 17-15 with spikes from OH Semeniuk, but Monza then scored side outs mainly from side attacks to get a set point, and finally MB Galassi's service ace was scored to take the set 25-22.
In the second set, Perugia took the lead 0-4 with a block from OH Semeniuk. Monza then made it 3-4 with consecutive blocks, and the match progressed with a side-out battle at 11-13. However, Perugia widened the gap to 12-16 with a block from OP Ventara, and continued to lead at 16-20 with a spike from OP Ventara. OP Ventara also scored a spike at the end, and Perugia took the set 21-25.
In the third set, Monza scored points with spikes and blocks from OP Schwartz, while Perugia scored points with spikes and blocks from OH Plotnicki, leading to a 6-6 score. However, immediately after, Perugia scored five consecutive breaks, including two service aces, from OH Plotnicki's serve to make it 6-11, and then Perugia took a large lead with three consecutive breaks from MB Flavio's serve with spikes from MB Sole and others, making it 7-15. After that, Perugia took a large lead with a spike from OH Semeniuk at the end of the match to make it 15-24, and finally Perugia took the set with a block from OH Semeniuk to make it 15-25.
In the fourth set, Monza took the lead at 4-2 with two consecutive service aces from MB Galassi. After that, Monza continued to break with spikes from OP Schwartz and OH Lepki, widening their lead to 12-8. However, Perugia made five consecutive breaks with a service ace from MB Sole's serve and a spike from OP Plotnicki, turning the game around at once to 12-14. Monza then broke with a block from MB Di Martino and a spike from OH Lepki to tie the score at 17-17, but in the final stages, Perugia broke with a spike from OP Ventara to make it 20-22. This was the deciding factor, and Perugia won the set 23-25 after getting three side-outs in a row with MB Flavio.
As a result, Monza lost to Perugia 1-3.
Coppa Italia final standings
Winner: Perugia (4th time in 2 seasons)
Runner-up: Monza (Ai Takahashi)
3rd place: Milan (Yuki Ishikawa), Trentino
Tournament MVP: OP Oleg Plotnitski
(Final match results: 14 points (2 serves, 1 block), attack efficiency rate 27.591 TP 3T)
Monza's next match will be the first leg of the CEV Challenge Cup semi-final against Galatasaray (Turkey) on Wednesday, January 31st at 28:00 Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Photo: volleyball.it
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