In the quarterfinals of the Italian women's Coppa Italia, Chieri, coached by Hayashi Kento, faced Novara on Wednesday, January 24th local time, and won 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23).
First set starting lineup
Kieri
OH: Skinner (USA), Omoruyi (Italy)
MB: Zacchaeus (Cyprus), Weitzel (Germany)
OP: Globerna (Belgium)
S: Marinov (Italy)
L: Spirito (Italy)
Novara
OH: Sakmary (Hungary), Bozzetti (Italy)
MB: Danesi (Italy), Bonifacio (Italy)
OP: Akimova (Russia)
S: Bosio (Italy)
L: Felsino (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Chieri made five consecutive breaks from OH Skinner's serve, OH Omoruyi's spikes and S Marinov's blocks, and quickly widened his lead to 9-2. Novara narrowed the gap to 13-8 with a block from MB Bonifacio, but Chieri quickly widened the gap to 16-8 with a spike and block from OP Groberna. After that, Chieri took another break with a spike from MB Weitzer to make it 21-12, and finally, a Novara serve error made it 25-17, and Chieri took the set.
In the second set, Chieri scored points from OH Skinner and OP Groberna's spikes from the beginning, and Novara also scored points from OP Akimova's spikes, and the match continued with the score tied at 7-7. In the middle of the set, Chieri took a two-point lead with OP Groberna's spike at 15-13 and maintained the lead to 18-16, but OP Akimova's spike caught up to 18-18. However, Chieri scored two consecutive breaks with OH Skinner's spikes and took the lead at 21-18, but Novara made a series of spike errors in the end, and Chieri took the set 25-21.
In the third set, Novara took the lead at 2-4 with an ace from OP Akimova, and continued to lead at 6-8 with spikes from OH Vice. After that, Chieri tied the score at 9-9 with attacks from OH Skinner, but Novara extended the lead again to 10-13 with a block and a service ace from MB Bonifacio, and 13-17 with two attacks from S Bosio. From there, Novara made a series of mistakes, and Chieri closed the gap to 16-17, but OP Akimova continued to score spikes in the final stages, and Novara won the set at 23-25 with her final spike.
In the fourth set, Chieri made a series of mistakes at the start, and Novara led 0-3. From there, MB Zaccaille's block allowed Chieri to catch up at 5-5. S Marinov's block and others made a comeback to 8-6, but Novara, who scored three consecutive breaks with a service ace from S Bosio, took the lead again at 10-11. However, thanks to a defense centered around L Spirito, OP Groverna's spikes and others scored three consecutive breaks, and Chieri again succeeded in turning the game around to 17-14. In the final stages, OH Bozzetti's spikes brought Novara to a tie at 20-20, but OH Kingdon (USA), who entered the match as a substitute, and others' service ace, Chieri pulled away again to 23-20. Finally, OP Groverna's spikes made it 25-23, and Chieri took the set.
As a result, Chieri won against Novara 3-1.
MVP: S Ophelia Marinov 5 points (2 blocks) Team attack efficiency rate 34.121 TP 3T
With this, Chieri has qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals, where they will face Conegliano on Saturday, February 17th.
The next league match will be against Vallefolia at 1:00 am on Sunday, January 28th, Japan time.
Comments from Coach Kento Hayashi
Kent: Our serves were really good from the beginning, and our serves were effective. Our reception was very stable, and we were able to build our side-out play around the middle, which I think was great. In the past matches, we had data showing that we used a lot of middle shots in the early stages, so we didn't go there, but instead spread them out to the sides, which I think led to our attacks being effective.
T: The first and second sets were mostly Chieri's pace, but Novara took the third set. How did you fix that in the fourth set?
Kent: From what I heard from the bench, they were talking about revising our serve targets and attacking points. The main reason we lost the set was because our serve efficiency dropped in the third set. That and our opponent OH Bozzetti was attacking as he pleased, so I think we were able to make good adjustments to our defense and how to hold him back with our serves.
T: Please tell us your enthusiasm for next month's Coppa Italia Final Four.
Kent: I'm really looking forward to this experience in my first Coppa Italia. However, we still have the league before that, and the CEV Cup next week, so I think we should fight hard there and improve our team strength. One of the big reasons for our victory (today) was our good reception attack, so we'll check our strength, the break, again and do our best to fight again next time.
Comment from Marinov
Marinov: I'm very happy. This match was very important for us. I think it was great that we were able to start the match with high concentration. Novara was a very good team and we made some adjustments during the match, but we came into the fourth set with a renewed determination to win, which was very good.
T: You were named MVP of the game, but if you had to choose an MVP, who would it be?
Marinov: The whole team. I feel that we support each other. Everyone who entered the court brought positive energy. It was amazing.
Photo: legavolleyfemminile.it
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