In the third match of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, 11th-placed Padova, where Takahashi Ai plays, played against 6th-placed Cisterna at home on Sunday, January 8th local time, and won 3-2 (17-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-12).
In this match, Takahashi started and contributed greatly to the team's comeback victory with 18 points (attack success rate 581 TP 3T), tied for second on the team.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Takahashi, De Smet (Belgium)
MB: Canella (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Cisterna
OH: Kaliberda (Germany), Sedlacek (Croatia)
MB: Dzingel (Austria), Rossi (Italy)
OP: Jirlic (Croatia)
S: Baranovich (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
Early in the first set, a short serve from OH Caliverda disrupted OH Takahashi's serve reception, allowing Cisterna to take a break. OH Takahashi's spike was then caught by the opponent's block, giving Cisterna an early lead of 4-9.
After that, Padua was able to get side outs mainly through OP Petkovic's spikes, but they were unable to continue to get a break, and the score remained at 15-19 as the final stages approached.
From there, OH De Smet had two consecutive shots blocked by Cisterna's blocks, and then OH Sedlacek scored consecutive spikes on a turnaround, giving Cisterna four consecutive breaks to make it 16-24.
In the end, substitute OH Asparuhov (Bulgaria) made a serve error, and Cisterna took the first set 17-25.
In the second set, Padua started to score side-outs mainly through OH Takahashi's spikes, but they made many serve errors and were unable to break through, so the score remained at 14-14 until the middle of the set.
From there, Cisterna temporarily took the lead at 14-17 with a service ace from S. Baranovic and a block from OH Caliberda's OP Petkovic, but Padova quickly closed the gap to 17-18 with a block from OP Guzzo (Italy), who came on as a substitute.
However, when OH Gutierrez (Cuba) came in as a relief server for Cisterna, he produced aces in large numbers, mixing power serves with short serves, and broke four times in a row to pull away from Padua with a score of 17-23.
In the end, MB Rossi scored a sharp quick shot to make it 19-25, and Cisterna went on to take the set.
In the third set, with no other options, Padua started the game with OH Asparuhov replacing OH De Smet and MB Volpato replacing MB Canella.
OH Asparuhov scored consecutive spikes from the early stages, bringing momentum to his team, and then he blocked the opponent OH Sedlacek in succession to give Padova a 6-4 lead.
From there, Padua extended their lead to 11-7 with successive breaks thanks to blocks by MB Crossart, but Cisterna made consecutive breaks with blocks from MB Rossi and direct spikes to turn the game around and take the lead to 12-13.
However, Padova managed to break through with OP Petkovic and OH Takahashi/Asparuhov scoring off carefully passed balls from their teammates, and they managed to turn the game around again, taking the lead to 19-18.
In particular, the two OH players had a high spike success rate in this set.
Then, OH Gardini, who came in as a relief server, served two aces (one of which was not counted in the stats but was actually an ace) to help Padua extend their lead to 22-19 towards the end of the set.Finally, Cisterna's OP Zirlic made an error with his spike, and Padua took the set back, 25-21.
In the fourth set, OP Petkovic's serve was an ace in the net on the first play, giving Padova a good start, and OH Asparuhov and OH Takahashi added points with spikes to take a big lead of 7-3 from the early stages.
From there, OH Takahashi and OP Petkovic were caught in the opponent's block, bringing the score to within one point at 9-8, but OP Petkovic hit two consecutive aces to give Padova a big lead over Cisterna again at 14-9.
After that, both teams continued to trade side outs until the end, making the score 22-19, but then OH Asparuhov spiked and served in succession to give Padova a set point at 24-19, and finally, a serve error by S. Baranovic gave Padova the set at 25-20.
In the fifth set, Cisterna started the set with OH Gutierrez instead of OH Sedlacek, and Padua took a 2-0 lead with consecutive net touches from Gutierrez, but an ace from OP Jirlic quickly put Cisterna back on track at 3-3.
However, from here, Padua's captain MB Volpato blocked OP Jirlic and made consecutive breaks to take the lead 6-3.
After that, Cisterna tied the score twice with spikes from OH Gutierrez and substitute OH Bayram (Turkey), but Padua was the first to reach double digits at 10-9 with spikes from OH Takahashi and spikes and serves from OH Asparuhov.
Then OH's Gardini was brought in as a relief server, and with two consecutive breaks, including a service ace, Padua cut the lead to 12-10 at the end of the set.
OH Takahashi scored the 13th point, and a serve error by Cisterna allowed Padova to score the 14th point. Finally, OH Asparuhov, the MVP of the match, spiked the ball past the opponent's block to score the 15th point. Padova won the set 15-12 and made a huge comeback from 0-2 to beat Cisterna 3-2.
MVP: Aspar Asparuhov (19 points (2 serves, 1 block), attack success rate 701 TP3T, serve reception success rate 481 TP3T (no losses))
Takahashi Ai also had impressive numbers, scoring 18 points, an attack success rate of 58%, and a serve receive success rate of 601 TP3T (1 point conceded).
With this result, Padua's overall record is 5 wins, 9 losses and 11 points, moving them up to provisional 10th place.
Their next match will be against Perugia, who are currently in first place, away from home on Sunday, January 15th at 18:00 local time (2:00 the next day Japan time).
The report for the first half is here:
Comment from Ai Takahashi
I was not able to play my best from the first set, but there were many times when I could not. I realized today that I need to focus more on kill blocks and getting the team going. However, I was able to fix that mentally and play my best from the third set, which is a good thing for the next match, and I really felt that this is also a part of my growth. In 2023, I want to gain experience in Italy, win a match in Padua, Italy, and aim for the final, so that I can play well on the national team and become the core of the team. However, I also want to keep my sights on my own growth one by one.
Photo: PallavoloPadova
Takahashi's full comments can be found here:
English 
Japanese