In the second round of the second half of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Monza, the team that Ai Takahashi plays for, played against Perugia on Sunday, January 7th (local time) and lost 0-3 (21-25, 21-25, 21-25). Ai Takahashi started the game and scored 9 points.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Ma (Canada), Takahashi
MB: Galassi (Italy), Beretta (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Visic (Croatia)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Perugia
OH: Semeniuk (Poland), Plotnicki (Ukraine)
MB: Sole (Argentina/Italy), Flavio (Brazil)
OP: Herrera (Cuba)
S: Giannelli (Italy)
L: Coraci (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Monza scored points mainly from OP Schwartz and Perugia from OH Plotnicki, and the match continued with the score tied at 8-8. From there, Perugia took the lead with 8-10 thanks to a service ace from OH Plotnicki, and then with a spike from OP Herrera and a block from OH Semeniuk, they extended their lead to 9-14. After that, Perugia went on to maintain a large lead at 20-14 with a service ace from OH Semeniuk and a spike from OH Plotnicki, and went into the end of the set. Monza narrowed the gap to 18-21 thanks to a spike from OH Marr and a mistake from Perugia, but in the end, a spike from MB Sole made it 21-25 and Perugia took the set.
In the second set, Monza took the lead 6-4 with a service ace from OH Marr and a spike from OH Takahashi. However, in the middle of the game, Perugia turned the game around with a spike from OH Plotnicki and a 10-11 lead, and then with a serve from OH Semeniuk and a block from MB Sole, they made it 15-18 with three consecutive breaks. After that, OH Plotnicki's spikes continued to break the game to 17-22, and finally OH Plotnicki's pipe attack made it 21-25, and Perugia took this set as well.
In the third set, Monza took a 5-3 lead early on, thanks to a block from MB Beretta and a spike from OP Lepky (Canada), who entered the match as a substitute. From there, Perugia broke with two attacks from S Gianelli to make it 6-6, and then OH Plotnicki's attack made a comeback to make it 6-8, but Monza took the lead again at 14-12 thanks to an ace from OP Lepky and an opponent's mistake. However, a block from MB Russo (Italy), who entered the match as a substitute, gave Perugia the lead again at 15-16, and then a spike from OH Semeniuk and a block from MB Sole extended the lead to 18-21. In the final stages, Perugia scored consecutive points, including a service ace from OP Bentala (Tunisia), who entered the match as a substitute, and had a match point at 20-24, but in the end, MB Sole's spike made it 21-25, and Perugia took the set.
As a result, Monza lost 0-3 to Perugia.
MVP: S Simone Giannelli 3 points (2 attacks, 1 block) Team attack effectiveness rate 50.00%
OH Ai Takahashi 9 points Attack effectiveness rate 43.75%
This means Monza maintains its 6th place position with a total record of 7 wins, 6 losses and 20 points.
The next match will be against Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) in the CEV Challenge Cup quarter-finals at 26:30 on Tuesday, January 9th (Japan time).
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Photo: volleyball.it
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