In the fourth match of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, 10th-placed Padova, the team Takahashi Ai plays for, played against 1st-placed Perugia at home on Sunday, January 15th local time, and lost 0-3 (22-25, 21-25, 21-25).
Japan's Takahashi Ai started the match and scored a team-high 13 points.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Takahashi, Asparuhov (Bulgaria)
MB: Canella (Italy), Volpato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Perugia
OH: Leon (Poland), Semeniuk (Poland)
MB: Russo (Italy), Mengozzi (Italy)
OP: Herrera (Cuba)
S: Giannelli (Italy)
L: Piccinelli (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
Padua's Asparuhov, who played brilliantly in the previous match against Cisterna, returned to the starting lineup for the first time in a long while.
In the first set, Padova got off to a good start with a service ace from OP Petkovic, and their defense worked well against S Saitta's serve, and from there MB Volpato and OP Petkovic scored spikes to give Padova an early lead over the league leaders Perugia at 7-3.
Padova continued to score side outs with spikes from OH Takahashi, but in the middle of the game, consecutive service aces from OH Leon put Perugia at 13-11, and then consecutive errors from MB Mengozzi's serve allowed Perugia to take the lead at 17-18.
However, Padua did not allow the score to be any larger thanks to spikes and serves from OH Takahashi, and advanced to 20-20. However, again, spikes from OH Semeniuk and S Giannelli from serves from OH Leon put Perugia ahead at 20-23 in the final stages, and finally a quick hit from MB Mengozzi gave Perugia the set, 22-25.
In the second set, Padua continued to score points mainly through OH Takahashi and Asparuhov, while Perugia's OH Leon and OP Herrera continued to score, with the score tied at 7-7.
From there, OH Takahashi blocked consecutive passes from OP Herrera and OH Semeniuk, giving Patova a 9-7 lead, but Perugia quickly caught up with a service ace from OH Semeniuk to make it 9-9.
However, OP Herrera also got a service ace to allow Perugia to take the lead, and then Padova's OP Petkovic and OH Asparuhov were caught in the opponent's block in succession, and from there OH Leon also got a service ace to put Perugia ahead 12-15.
After that, Padua scored points through OP Petkovic and OH Takahashi with tenacious defense, but Perugia's OH Leon was unstoppable, with a service ace in the final minutes to make the score 19-24, and finally MB Russo's quick hit made it 21-25, giving Perugia the set.
In the third set, Padua, with no other options, started the game with MB Crosart replacing MB Volpato.
In this set, Padua made noticeable mistakes from the beginning, while Perugia made side outs mainly through OP Herrera and broke the lead with blocks from MB Mengozzi, taking a 4-9 lead.
Padua fought back with spikes from OH Takahashi, but Perugia widened the gap to 9-16 with a service ace from MB Russo that deflected Takahashi's receive.
After that, Padua closed the gap to 3 points at 18-21 with a block from MB Crosart and a two-attack from S Saitta, but in the end OH Asparuhov's serve went in error and Perugia took the set 21-25 to defeat Padua 0-3.
MVP: MB Roberto Russo (7 points (1 serve, 3 blocks), attack success rate 601 TP 3 T)
Takahashi Ai had 13 points (including 2 blocks), an attack success rate of 551 TP3T, and a serve receive success rate of 351 TP3T.
With this result, Padua's overall record is 5 wins, 10 losses and 11 points, dropping them to provisional 11th place.
The team's next match will be against Taranto, who are in 10th place, at home on Sunday, January 22nd at 18:00 local time (2:00 the next day Japan time).
The report for the first half is here:
Thoughts etc.
Perugia was really strong.
But personally I think it was a great match!
There were times in the first set in particular when they took the lead, and Takahashi had a high attack success rate even against Perugia's strong blockers, and even with a block he was able to score two points, which is rare.
Asparuhov, who had a great performance last week, also continued to perform well.
It was painful to lose five serve reception points, but three of those were Leon's serves, so I don't think we need to worry too much about it.
Leon's serves are either an ace or a mistake, so if he goes in it's a given that it's an ace, but on the other hand, if he can receive it it's amazing (laughs).
In that sense, Takahashi's serve reception, which improved during the game, was indeed impressive.
In addition, the digging was very improved overall, led by Takahashi and Zenger.
Padua's strong floor defense is one of their greatest weapons.
That's why I hope we can reduce the number of points Petkovic concedes from his spikes (mistakes and blocks).
More than half of the starting line-up was changed from the first half of the game, played at home to Perugia and Padua, but no matter who played they were still a strong team.
This time they were overwhelmed by the attacks and serves of the Cuban duo of Leon and Herrera.
Leon's serve in particular has a killer speed of 136 km/h (I think it's a volleyball record), so if he can get the ball even a little bit off the receiver and into the court, he's already an ace (laughs).
Setter Giannelli was also a tough player.
In the early stages he went on the offensive and made a big impact (lol), and in the second half he used some great fake moves to confuse the Padua blockers.
Also, the fake set battle between Giannelli and Takahashi in the second set was fun (laughs).
Giannelli often scores points directly with his serves and spikes, so he looks quite flashy, but in this match too, he stuck to the basics, focusing the ball on areas where there was a mismatch between our attackers and the opposing blockers, with Leon on Saitta's block and Herrera on Takahashi's block, and it was also impressive how he made good use of the middle and pipe shots.
MB's Russo was named MVP of this match, but on the other hand, Padua would like to have a little more attacking power from the mid-range.
If we can keep the ball more in the middle, the three on the sides will be able to come into their own.
Anyway, I think Padua put up a good fight.
We did manage to win one set in the first half, but were pretty poor in the next three sets, whereas this time we lost in straight sets, but I think we played a meaningful match until the end.
If I hadn't won Leon's serve gacha, I really would have won the set (lol).
Well, there's no point in losing to Perugia, who are unbeaten so far this season, so we'll need to focus our attention on the next match against Taranto.
Taranto are on a roll having beaten Verona the day before this match, so they'll be looking to win here, hopefully get three points and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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