In the first leg of the Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV) Challenge Cup final, Monza, which Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Warsaw (Poland) on Wednesday, February 21st (local time) and lost 1-3 (18-25, 25-21, 18-25, 19-25). Takahashi Ai came on as a substitute and scored one point.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Lepke (Canada), Marr (Canada)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Mujanovic (Slovenia)
S: Visic (Croatia)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Warsaw
OH: Tilley (France), Szabuk (Poland)
MB: Wrona (Poland), Semeniuk (Ukraine)
OP: Weber (Germany)
S: Filrey (Poland)
L: Wojtaszek (Poland)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Warsaw took a 0-3 lead with three consecutive blocks. Monza scored mainly from OP Schwartz, but Warsaw also scored with spikes and service aces from OP Weber, and Warsaw maintained a lead of 11-14. In the final stages, MB Semeniuk scored a break with a service ace and other points to take a large lead of 17-24 and hold the set point, and finally OH Szalbuk scored a spike to win the set 18-25.
In the second set, Monza took the lead 6-5 with OH Lepki as the main scorer, but Warsaw turned the tables with OH Tee's spikes and other efforts to make it 9-12. However, Monza took the lead again with 15-14 thanks to OP Schwartz's spikes and OH Lepki's service aces. At 18-18, OH Takahashi entered the court as a backcourt player. In the final stages, OH Lepki's blocks and other efforts led to a break at 24-20, and finally OP Schwartz's spike made it 25-21, giving Monza the set.
In the third set, Monza took the lead at 8-6 with an ace from MB Galassi, but then Warsaw turned the game around with an ace from MB Vrona and 8-10. Warsaw then extended their lead to 11-15 with an ace from MB Semeniuk. Monza then brought in OH Takahashi. However, Warsaw continued to widen the gap with a 14-21 lead thanks to blocks from MB Semeniuk and other efforts. Monza then widened the gap to 18-22 with an ace from OH Takahashi, but in the end, Warsaw took the set with an ace from relief server OH Borkowski (Poland) and 18-25.
In the fourth set, Monza took the lead with 8-2 thanks to spikes, blocks, and service aces from OH Lepki. From there, Warsaw broke the score consistently with spikes from OP Weber, blocks from MB Semeniuk, and spikes from OH Szalbuk, tying the score at 14-14 in the middle of the set. Monza again replaced OH Marr with OH Takahashi, and maintained the lead again with a service ace from OP Schwartz at 17-15. However, a spike from OH Szalbuk turned the game around to 17-19, and then OH Szalbuk's consecutive service aces led Warsaw to four consecutive breaks at 18-24, bringing them to match point. Finally, a spike from OH Tyrie made it 19-25, and Warsaw took the set.
MVP: MB Yuri Semeniuk 12 points (2 serves, 3 blocks) Attack efficiency rate 58.331 TP3T
OH Takahashi Ai 1 point Attack effectiveness rate 100% Serve receive success rate 20%
The second leg of the CEV Challenge Cup final will be held at Monza home grounds from 28:00 Japan time on Tuesday 27th February.
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 Padova on Saturday, February 24th at 26:00 Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Comments from Ai Takahashi after the match
I was injured, so I only came on in the middle of the match to support the team, but there were some players on the team who were in good form and some who weren't, so I think it was great that the players who were in good form were able to lead the team. I think that the fact that I wasn't able to help the team properly when I played in the fourth set is something I need to improve my condition even more. We still have a home game, so I want to win it.
Toshiki's comment
*To be added later
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