In the 11th round of the second half of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Monza, the team that Takahashi Ai plays for, played against Cisterna on Sunday, March 3rd (local time) and won 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18).
Takahashi Ai came on as a substitute and scored five points.
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)
Cisterna
OH: Ramon (Spain), Bayram (Türkiye)
MB: Mazzone (Italy), Nedeljkovic (Serbia)
OP: Fall (France)
S: Baranovich (Italy)
L: Piccinelli (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
MVP: OH Stephen Marr
18 points (2 serves, 2 blocks)
Attack Effectiveness Rate 68.42%
OH Ai Takahashi
5 points
Attack Effectiveness Rate 50.00%
Monza finished the regular season in 5th place with a total record of 13 wins, 9 losses and 39 points.
Monza will now face Civitanova, who are in 4th place, in the playoff quarter-finals. The first team to win three races will advance to the semi-finals.
The first leg of the quarter-finals will be held at Civitanova's home grounds on Wednesday, March 6th at 28:30 Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
For better or worse, I thought it was a typical Monza game.
In the first set, despite their serve reception being disrupted, the team took the lead with a high attack success rate, led by Ma.
In the second and third sets, he used his strong serve to attack aggressively, winning in straight sets with numerous breaks.
However, especially in the second set, Monza was leading by about seven points until he reached 20 points, but then he allowed Cisterna to break multiple times and the final score was just three points, 25-22.
Monza has a risk of side outs, so I think it will be important for them to attack with their serves, as they did in today's match, and break first to take the lead in the upcoming playoffs.
In this match, Takahashi played from the middle of the second set to the end, demonstrating a high level of performance on both offense and defense.
I was especially thrilled when, as soon as he entered the court in the middle of the second set, setter Cachopa sent a shot to Takahashi's pipe (on the right side, no less!) and Takahashi scored a point. Nice choice, Cachopa.
Judging by how we felt today, it looks like we'll be fine for the playoffs.
Unfortunately, we ended up in fourth place and were unable to start the quarterfinals with a home game, but I think fifth place is a very good ranking.
This season, both first-place Trentino and second-place Perugia showed their strength throughout the season, but Trentino's starting setter, Sbertoli, broke his finger in the final game of the regular season, making it impossible for them to make the playoffs.
Therefore, the opponent they would most like to avoid is Perugia, who they lost to in the Coppa Italia final, but if they finish in 5th place they won't face Perugia until the final.
This means there is a good chance that Monza will advance to the final!!!
But first, Civitanova.
Although this team has had its ups and downs during the regular season, they have managed to improve their game in the playoffs every year, and are a very strong playoff team, having advanced to the finals for six consecutive seasons, excluding the season that was canceled due to COVID-19.
Although we won the Coppa Italia quarter-finals in a one-off, the playoffs will be tough.
Photo: verovolley
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