In the 8th round of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova (10th place), played against Verona (5th place) at home on Sunday, February 12th local time, and lost 2-3 (21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 29-27, 17-19).
Takahashi started in the game and scored 18 points, second on the team.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Takahashi (Japan), Asparuhov (Bulgaria)
MB: Volpato (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Verona
OH: Magarini (Italy), Mozic (Slovenia)
MB: Cortesia (Italy), Grozdanov (Bulgaria)
OP: Keita (Mari)
S: Spirito (Italy)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
Verona will be using Keita, who is originally an OH, as the OP.
In the first set, OH Takahashi's spike was blocked by OH Mozic on the first point, allowing Verona to take the lead. However, OH Takahashi immediately scored with a spike and then took three consecutive breaks, including an ace, on his own serve, giving Padova a 5-2 lead.
Verona tied the score at 11-11 with spikes from OH Mozic and spikes and blocks from OP Keita, but Padova maintained their lead at 17-15 with more service aces from OP Petkovic and OH Takahashi.
However, Verona's S. Spirito scored a service ace to make the score 17-17, and then OH Magarini scored a spike in the next game to turn the game around to 17-19.
After that, OH Keita's spikes and serves continued to widen the gap, and finally, with a service ace from MB Cortesia, Verona took the first set 21-25.
In the second set, Padua started with MB Canella instead of MB Volpato.
Padova started off by thrilling the crowd with an ace from OP Petkovic and a block from OH Takahashi shutting down the opponent's OP Keita, but Verona quickly turned the game around with spikes from OP Keita and OH Magarini to take the lead 4-6.
Padova brought on OH De Smet (Belgium) in place of OH Asparhof in an attempt to stabilize their serve reception, but in the middle of the game Verona scored six consecutive points with a service ace from OH Mozic and a block from MB Cortesia, and pulled away from Padova with a score of 12-18.
Padova sent OP Guzzo (Italy), S Zoppellari (Italy), and OH Gardini (Italy) onto the court, but Verona continued to score with spikes from OH Mozic and other plays, and took set point at 16-24.
However, Padua got a side out with a spike from OP Guzzo, and then new players, including a block from OP Guzzo, a spike from OH Gardini, and a service ace from S Zoppellari, scored one after another, making it 22-24 and successfully breaking five times in a row.
However, in the end, OP Keita scored a spike to give Verona the win, 22-25.
In the third set, Padua, with no other options, went for Takahashi and Gardini at OH, Canella and Volpato at MB, and Guzzo at OP.
Then, early on, OH Gardini scored consecutive points with a spike and a serve, giving Padua a 4-2 lead.
Padua continued to score points, mainly from OH Gardini and OP Guzzo, but the score remained close and the game went into the middle of the game at 12-12.
OH Gardini again hit a service ace, and then OH Takahashi also hit a spike, putting Padova up 15-12. From there, S Saitta continued to get side-outs with shots from the middle, and Padova maintained the lead at 21-18.
Towards the end of the set, Verona's coach Stojchev was shown a red card, and Padova broke three times in a row to take the set point lead at 24-18.Finally, OH Mozic's serve went wrong, and Padova took the set back at 25-20.
In the fourth set, OH Takahashi's spike and two more blocks excited the crowd and Padua took the lead 7-4.
Padua continued to serve well, including an ace from S. Saitta, and widened the gap to 11-6, but Verona also saw OP Keita score two consecutive aces from OH Gardini, and then MB Cortesia also scored an ace, narrowing the gap to 15-14, just one point behind.
However, when they needed points, OH Takahashi scored solid points and Padova maintained the lead at 22-19 going into the final stages of the set. However, OP Saposhkov (Russia), who replaced Keita, scored a service ace, and then OH Mozic scored consecutive spikes to tie the score at 23-23 for Verona.
The match went straight into deuce and the game continued to be a back-and-forth battle, but just after MB Canella got a quick side out, OH Mozic made a spike error and Padua took the set 29-27.
In the fifth set, Verona played with their basic formation this season, with Mozic and Keita at the end and Saposchkov at the front.
In the early stages, Padua scored points with spikes and serves from OH Gardini, while Verona concentrated the ball on OP Saposhkov and steadily got side outs from high hitting points, with neither team giving in at 5-5.
From there, Padua put in a strong defense and MB Volpato scored a quick goal to take a 7-5 lead, but after the court change, OH Gardini made a series of spike errors and Verona took the lead at 9-10.
After that, OH Gardini scored an ace to put Padua in front again, making the score 11-10, but at 13-13, OH Mozic scored an ace with a skillful short serve, putting Verona at match point first, at 13-14.
The match went into deuce again, with OH Gardini blocking OH Keita to put Padua back in the lead at 15-14, but in the end OH Keita hit two consecutive service aces and Verona took the set 17-19, winning 2-3 against Padua.
MVP: S Luca Spirito (3 points (1 serve, 1 block)
Takahashi Ai was second on the team with 18 points (2 on serves and 3 on blocks), with an attack success rate of 45% and a serve receive success rate of 61%.
As a result, Padua remains in 10th place with 6 wins, 13 losses and 16 points.
The team's next game will be against Monza away on Sunday, February 19th at 18:00 local time (2:00 the next day Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
I was watching this game live and it was a very disappointing loss.
But honestly, considering how the game was going up until the middle of the second set, I think it was a big deal that we were able to go to a full set and get even just one point.
Verona's regular starting player, Saposhkov, was not in top condition that day, so they started the match with Keita in starting position and Magarini in overhead position.
With OH Magarini, our defense is more stable but our attacking power is weaker, so before the match I thought we might be able to do better than in the first half, where we were defeated badly in straight sets, but when the match started it was again a tough one...
In the first half of the league match at home to Verona, Padova seemed to be heavily affected by Verona's serves, but this time they struggled with the opponent's blocks.
Although Verona had fewer direct block points in the first set, Padova's spike success rate was kept to 25%, a low figure rarely seen in men's volleyball, and OP Petkovic and OH Takahashi in particular had success rates limited to the 10% range.
However, thanks to the strong serves from the two players mentioned above, Padua was able to get up to 21 points in the first set, but as far as the match was concerned, the gap between the two teams was much more than the points indicated.
In the second set, OP Petkovic's spikes improved, but on the other hand, OH Takahashi's serves made it difficult to get breaks, and the point gap widened even more than in the first set until the end.
Padova replaced more than half of their starting lineup, and I was thinking, "It'll probably be 0-3 again today. Even though Saposhkov is not here, can they still beat Verona?", but after Verona got a set point, the substitute players came into action!
OP Guzzo, OH Gardini and S Zoppellari each scored points and made five consecutive breaks, thrilling the Padua fans in the venue.
Takahashi, who doesn't smile much during games, was smiling on the bench just for this moment.
Verona ended up winning this set as well, but Padua's reserve players got them in excellent form for the third set.
OH Gardini and OP Guzzo were in the starting lineup for the third set.
With Gardini, who has little match experience, and Takahashi on the diagonal, I thought it might be better to put Takahashi closer to the setter and in the middle, receiving serves more often, in the No. 2 position, but Takahashi is still at No. 5 (Coach Cuttini is as particular as ever about how he uses Takahashi).
However, OH Gardini was very effective from the beginning with his spikes and serves!
With all due respect, OH Gardini's spikes look lighter than those of other players, but for some reason he hits the ball with great ease.
However, he was good at straight tipping (a feint where you push with your fingertips) and was able to score one after another while taking advantage of his opponent's blocks.
Additionally, Gardini is tall and has a high blocking ability, so he was able to get good blocking touches on the opponents' spikes, which made a great contribution on the defensive side of the ball.
His father, a former Italian national team player, has been at the venue for every game to date, but he was not there on this day as he took over as manager of a Polish club this month.
I would have loved to see this performance today...
Perhaps inspired by Gardini's performance, Takahashi's spike success rate, which was in the 10% range until the second set, improved to the 50% range, finally showing his true potential!
Padova will also use S. Saitta effectively in the middle.
On the other hand, Verona's Keita, who was in the opening kick, was unable to score a spike, and the set ended with no points.
Padua really got the momentum going from this set and took back one set.
Now, things are starting to get interesting!!
And the fourth set was a Takahashi Ai festival.
Early in the game, he sent a difficult high ball to the cross and then blocked the opponents OH Magarini and OP Keita in succession!
In particular, there is a height difference of about 20cm between him and Keita, and I think the difference is even greater when you consider his highest reach, so when Takahashi stopped Keita, the entire bench team erupted in joy (laughs).
OH Gardini, who had been in a godlike position with a success rate of 751 TP and 3 T in the third set, had his success rate drop, and OP Guzzo was also struggling with his calf injury and was replaced by OP Petkovic in the back three rotations.
However, Petkovic's spikes were not successful and Padova struggled in the middle of the game.
However, even in such a situation, Takahashi kept scoring!
He also showed off his godlike one-handed digging skills, picking up the balls!!
With this set, Takahashi had an amazing spike success rate of 100%!!! (Isn't that cool?)
Towards the end of the match, Verona brought on OP Saposhkov (220cm), but Padua managed to win this set as well, sending the match into the final set.
The final set was a truly tense match.
Verona have reverted to the ultra-attacking three-man wing formation that battered Padova in the first half.
Among them, OH Gardini of Padua stood out as being particularly active.
He leads the team with his spikes, serves and points.
On the other hand, Verona put almost all of their side-outs on OP Saposhkov, and he was able to hit almost all of them.
S. Spirito also continued to supply high quality and careful sets for Saposhkov.
Padova took the first 8 points and then 13 points, but at 13-13, Mozic's short serve fell in front of Zenger, giving Verona the first match point at 13-14.
Zenger had been covering OH Gardini's range quite well with his serve reception and had held up well up until that point, but I would have liked him to step it up in this situation.
After that, lucky boy OH Gardini scored a block point and managed to turn the game around, but in the end, OH Keita's bazooka serve took out Gardini and Zenger in succession, ending the game.
In particular, Keita's serve that decided the match point came slightly closer to Gardini between the two players, so Zenger was slow to react and ended up with an ace.
At that point, all you can do is praise Keita for being able to deliver such a powerful serve there.
There's no doubt that it was a game we could have won, but considering the truly hopeless situation we found ourselves in mid-way through the second set, it was an incredible comeback, and I think that getting even just one point was a huge advantage towards avoiding relegation.
Takahashi himself was in a very poor condition until the second set, with a spike success rate of 131 TP and 3 T, but from the third set onwards he showed an astonishing recovery with a spike success rate of 78%.
If I were to be greedy, I would have liked to see them get more involved in the attack since they scored zero points (and had zero hits) in the fifth set, but even so, they showed off their impressive ability to make adjustments in this match as well.
This 21 year old is truly frightening.
Gardini was also amazing.
If Padua had won, he would have been named MVP.
He scored the most points on the team with 20 (4 on serves and 2 on blocks), and had an impressive attack success rate of 481 TP and 3T.
There are still concerns about his serve reception (7 points conceded due to serve reception), but I think this will improve as he gets more playing time, so if that's the case, he may be a player with even more potential than Asparuhov.
Also, once Asparuhov has a bad spike or serve receive, it seems like he can't recover, but watching this match I got the impression that Guardini is a player who is able to change his mindset in that respect.
It makes me want to see a little more of these two from opposite angles!
Of course Takahashi was second (laughs).
Now there are three games left in the league.
The opponents are Monza, Trento and Piacenza.
In terms of the rankings, I think the only chance for Padova to win is the next race at Monza, so I would like to win somehow next week.
Forza!!! (Go for it)
Photo: PallavoloPadova
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