In the second round of the Italian Serie A Superliga, Padova, the team that Ai Takahashi plays for, played against last season's champion Civitanova away on October 9th local time. Padova won the match 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-12), marking their second consecutive win since the start of the season. This was also their second giant-killing since last week.
The stats for this match areHere.
Well, Padova did it again. What's more, it was the defending champion Civitanova that they defeated this time. Not only were they the previous champions, but they are the absolute champions who have won the league three times in a row, excluding the season that was canceled due to COVID-19. The members are also a galaxy army of the volleyball world, full of strong players such as Italy's Zaitsev and Argentina's Dececco. Padova beat such a dangerous team this time.
In this match, Padua's serves were very fast and effective, their attacks were consistent and their side-out rate was high, but I personally think that what supports this team is their defense. Because the ball never falls on the court. Really. And at the center of it all is libero Zenger (Germany) and our very own Ai Takahashi.
Takahashi's serve reception success rate on this day was an astonishing 77%. And although there are no figures, I think he also made a considerable number of digs. His contributions in connecting the ball were also excellent, and at the end of the third set, he ran to receive a serve that had been deflected by his teammate, but carefully tossed it under the ball, which was an electrifying scene for Petkovic (Serbia) on the opposite end to convert into a point. He was truly a master craftsman.
In addition, Takahashi was also in top form offensively, scoring 20 points and scoring 541 TP3T. On this day in particular, he showed us not only his powerful shots but also his many tricks, such as feints and blockouts. However, the most thrilling moment was when he broke through the opponent's three blocks and scored a point at the beginning of the third set. He scored without even noticing Civitanova's three blocks. The Takahashi who was said to be a concern in terms of his offensive power in the forward line was no longer there.
Of course, his serve was also great. Takahashi didn't have any aces in this match, but he did have some that were returned directly, and he served so effectively that if he hadn't made any mistakes on his serve, he would have been able to break in most cases. It was consecutive breaks from Takahashi's serve that broke the deadlock in the fifth set of this match, just like last week.
Ai-kun, you're amazing.
With such a great performance, Takahashi was naturally the MVP of this match. Without question. Winning two consecutive opening games against two BIG4 teams was a big deal, but winning the MVP in two consecutive games is beyond words. To be honest, I didn't think he would be such a great player. Sorry. There is no doubt that Takahashi is now Padua's central player.
However, De Smet (Belgium) and Asparuhov (Bulgaria), who were positioned opposite Takahashi, gave their opponents a lot of trouble with their serves, Canella (Italy) in the middle also had good blocks, Crossart (Italy)'s quick plays were also an accent, Petkovic on the opposite side hit many difficult high balls, and the two from setter Saitta (Italy) in the fifth set was thrilling.
It was a big win that we all achieved together. It was a team effort.
On the other hand, Civitanova was scoring mainly through outside player Zaitsev and Bottolo (Italy), who had transferred from Padua, but the opposite player Garcia (Puerto Rico) and Nikolov (Bulgaria), who joined midway through the game, were not performing as well as expected, and it seemed that the game was decided by that difference. However, they are still young, around 20 years old, so if they can get a chance, they will mature rapidly. Nikolov in particular is an outside player by trade, so I think he is not yet used to playing opposite, but it is scary to think that he has already achieved this much. Young talent is scary (and I mean that as a compliment, of course).
Padova's next match will be against Cisterna away on Sunday, October 16th at 20:30 local time (3:30 the next day in Japan). This team is also on a roll, having won their first two matches and not lost a set, so even though they are not in the BIG4, we cannot let our guard down.
Good luck next time, Ai-kun, and good luck Padua!
All Italian league matches are broadcast live and archived on Volleyball World TV! If you haven't done so yet, check out the link below to find out how to watch and cheer on the players together!
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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