In the second leg of the Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV) Challenge Cup final, Monza, the team Takahashi Ai plays for, faced Warsaw (Poland) on Tuesday, February 27th local time, and lost 1-3 (25-27, 16-25, 25-17, 22-25).
Ai Takahashi came on as a substitute and scored 12 points. As a result, Monza finished the tournament as runners-up.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Lepke (Canada), Marr (Canada)
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Mujanovic (Slovenia)
S: Visic (Croatia)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
Warsaw
OH: Tilley (France), Szabuk (Poland)
MB: Wrona (Poland), Semeniuk (Ukraine)
OP: Bo Won Ju (Warsaw)
S: Filrey (Poland)
L: Wojtaszek (Poland)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Monza took a 5-3 lead thanks to OH Marr's blocks. They further extended their lead to 11-7 with service aces from OH Marr and MB Galassi. However, Warsaw tied the score at 12-12 with a spike from OH Tiri and a block from MB Semeniuk, and then turned the game around to 17-19 with a spike from OP Bo Won Ju. Monza then tied the score at 20-20 with a spike from OH Marr, and the game went into deuce with a fight for side-outs. Finally, OH Tiri blocked OH Marr's pipe attack, and Warsaw took the set at 25-27.
In the second set, Warsaw took a big lead at 2-9 after seven consecutive breaks from spikes and blocks by MB Semeniuk and OH Szabuk. Monza brought in OP Mujanovic (Slovenia) and OH Takahashi. With the spikes from these two, Monza got side-outs, but they were unable to get any breaks and the match continued with the score remaining unchanged at 10-17. From there, Warsaw widened the gap even further with a service ace from MB Semeniuk and a block from OP Bo Won-Ju, making it 12-22. At the end, OH Takahashi's serve was an error, and Warsaw took the set 16-25.
*Since Warsaw had won the first leg 3-1, they were already declared the winners at this point.
From the third set, both teams replaced almost all of their starting members. In the early stages, OH Lepki's service ace and OP Mujanovic's spikes helped Warsaw to extend their lead to 9-4. From there, Warsaw closed the gap to 10-9 with OP Weber's (Germany) spikes, but Monza widened the gap to 17-11 with OH Takahashi's spikes and OP Weber's mistakes. Even at the end, Monza broke with OP Mujanovic's spikes and held the set point at 24-16, and finally Monza took the set with two attacks from S. Visic (Croatia) to make it 25-17.
In the fourth set, Monza took the lead 7-3 with OH Takahashi's spikes in the early stages. However, in the middle stages, Warsaw scored consecutive points with OP Weber's spikes and succeeded in turning the game around to 14-17. From there, Monza tied the score at 19-19 with Warsaw's mistakes, but in the end, OH Borkowski's spikes broke the score and Warsaw took the set 22-25.
As a result, Monza lost to Warsaw 1-3.
OH Ai Takahashi 12 points (including 1 block) Attack effectiveness rate 14.81% Serve receive success rate 92%
CEV Challenge Cup Men's Final Results
Winner: Warsaw (Poland, first win)
Runner-up: Monza (Italy)
3rd place: Fenerbahce (Türkiye), Aker (Finland)
Tournament MVP: MB Yuri Semeniuk (Ukraine)
CEV Challenge Cup Men:http://www.cev.eu/match-centres/2024-european-cups/cev-volleyball-challenge-cup-2024-men/
Monza's next Italian League match will be against Cisterna on Sunday, March 3rd at 26:00 Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
I was there for this match.
It was a frustrating game in many ways.
First of all, Warsaw had won the first leg 3-1, so if they won two sets they would be crowned champions.
If this happens before the outcome of the match is decided, the remaining sets will become, in a sense, meaningless practice matches.
I didn't want to see a match like that, so I really wanted Monza to win without going to a full set and take it to a golden set.
Monza was in very good form in the beginning of the first set, and Cachopa in particular, who had made a series of unusual combination errors in the first leg, was able to set well, with Monza's attackers scoring one point after another.
However, Warsaw regained momentum from the middle of the game and the match went to deuce.
Although Warsaw ended up taking the game, I think we still had enough energy to win three sets in a row from there.
However, in the second set, Takahashi conceded consecutive breaks early on and it became impossible to make a comeback. Takahashi also entered the court and showed a high performance, but it was already too late.
They then lost the second set by a large margin, giving Warsaw the victory.
Hmm, this is the last thing we wanted to happen.
At Monza, it was a blow to Schwartz when his decisiveness suddenly dropped off towards the end of the first set.
Takahashi was in good condition, so I thought that if we had had the option of switching him with Schwartz and going with 3OH, the result might have been a little different.
However, Warsaw's defense was very strong. The consecutive breaks at the beginning of the second set were largely due to the blocks of Semeniuk, who won the MVP, and the serve reception was also hard to break down.
As I also felt in the match between Milan and Zawiercie (Poland), there are no teams in the Italian league where both starting outside hitters are good at receiving serves.
Therefore, I think Monza was required to attack with a different serve than usual, but they were unable to find a way to do so even after playing two games.
As expected, after the third set, when the winning team was decided, all the members were replaced and the game became like a practice match.
It was great to see Takahashi play, but it was still a meaningless match, so personally I was watching it thinking, "I wish it would end quickly, please don't go for a full set" (laughs).
After the match, Warsaw's Tilli said, "We want to win the match and secure the championship, but it feels strange that the decision is made midway through the game. The current rules should be changed," and as a spectator I completely agree.
In league matches, I think it's fine to have a difference in points between full sets and non-full sets, but I don't think it's necessary to have a difference in points between the winner and loser of a match that is decided by two games at home and away.
So unfortunately, Monza, with Takahashi on board, missed out on the championship, and Takahashi personally missed out on his first title with the club.
However, the league is still ongoing and we don't know what will happen in the playoffs, so let's hope for a place on the podium in the league!!!
By the way, I had a large backpack stolen at the venue...
I had left it on the desk in the press box, but when I noticed, it had been replaced with an empty backpack. It is likely the work of another reporter or cameraman.
I was deeply shocked by the theft, which took place in a place that is only accessible to those with official licenses or passes.
The number of crimes seems to be increasing recently, and my friend was a victim of one. I urge all readers to be careful when visiting Italy.
Photo: CEV
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