In the 9th round of the second half of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Monza, the team that Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Catania on Saturday, February 17th local time, and won 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-17).
Takahashi Ai played in the forward position for the first time in about a month, coming on as a substitute and scoring five goals.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Marr (Canada), Lepke (Canada)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Schwartz (Canada)
S: Cachopa (Brazil)
L: Gazzini (Italy)
Catania
OH: Massari (Italy), Randazzo (Italy)
MB: Masurovic (Serbia), Bossi (Italy)
OP: Bucchegger (Austria)
S: Orduna (Argentina)
L: Cavaccini (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Monza took the lead 5-0 with consecutive points from MB Galassi's consecutive blocks. After that, Monza continued to score with spikes from OP Schwartz and blocks from S Cachopa, widening the gap to 15-5, and then OH Lepke's four service aces gave Monza a further lead of 21-6. From here, Catania scored consecutive points with service aces and spikes from OH Massari, narrowing the gap to 23-15. However, in the end, Monza won the set with a 25-17 attack from OH Takahashi, who entered the match as a substitute.
In the second set, Monza scored points mainly from OH Lepki and Catania from OP Buczegger, and the score was 9-9. From there, Catania took the lead at 9-11 with a spike from OH Massari. However, Monza quickly turned the game around to 13-11 with a service ace from OP Schwartz and a block from OH Marr, and then widened the gap to 16-12 with the opponent's mistakes. In the final stages, Monza scored consecutive breaks with spikes from OP Schwartz and took the set point at 24-17, but finally, a serve error from Catania made it 25-19 and Monza took the set.
In the third set, Monza started with OH Takahashi and MB Beretta (Italy). In the early stages, Monza took the lead 8-4 with OH Marr's service ace, and then OH Takahashi's spikes and blocks extended the lead to 13-6. After that, OP Schwartz and MB Compaloni (Italy), who entered the match as a substitute, further increased the lead to 21-12, and finally Monza won the set with a spike from MB Beretta, making it 25-17.
As a result, Monza won against Catania 3-0.
MVP: OH Stephen Marr 12 points (1 serve, 2 blocks) Attack efficiency rate 57.141 TP 3T
OH Ai Takahashi 5 points (including 1 block) Attack effectiveness rate 50%
Monza's overall record now stands at 11 wins, 9 losses and 33 points, remaining in 6th place.
The next match will be against Warsaw (Poland) in the Challenge Cup final first leg at 1:30am on Wednesday, February 21st (Japan time).
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
Takahashi Ai returns to the forward line!!!
Although his jumps didn't seem to be at their full potential yet, his effectiveness rate of 50% was still high, and he also made some impressive blocks, so he was very reliable!
He started in the third set, so it won't be long before he'll be in the starting lineup! Personally, I'm planning to cover the next Challenge Cup final against Warsaw, so I'm hoping to see him back in the starting lineup there (laughs).
However, at the moment, the Canadian duo of Marr, who won the MVP, and OH Repke, who had four service aces, are both very good, so I think it would be difficult for Takahashi to be in the starting lineup even if there was absolutely nothing wrong with his leg.
However, even if he starts on the bench in the next game, Warsaw, currently third in the Polish league, are very strong, so there will definitely come a time when his abilities will be needed.
In any case, I'm super looking forward to it!
However, this match was pretty one-sided from start to finish...(laughs).
In the first set alone, Monza had 7 blocks and 4 service aces (all service aces were from Lepke). Monza was in the lead for most of the set after that, and it looked like a match they could have easily won even if they had used multiple substitute players.
Even so, I want to tell Mujanovic to try a bit harder (laughs). I can see Otake.
Catania had only one win up to that point, and relegation was almost certain before the match (relegation has already been decided at this point), so it was likely difficult for the players to stay motivated.
On the other hand, Monza has already qualified for the playoffs, so the question now is whether they can finish the regular round in fourth place or higher, which would give them home advantage.
Fortunately, there is not much difference in points between 3rd and 4th place, and the remaining opponents are lower-ranked Padua and Cisterna, so there is a good chance that Monza can move up to 4th place or higher. Even if that is not the case, we would like to avoid the worst case scenario of finishing 6th or higher and facing 1st place Trento and 2nd place Perugia in the playoff quarterfinals.
But first, the Challenge Cup final! I'm going to watch the first leg of the match in Warsaw!!!
Photo: volleyball.it
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