In the first match of the Italian Men's Volleyball League playoff final, Monza, the team Takahashi Ai plays for, faced Perugia on Thursday, April 18th local time and lost 1-3 (25-27, 18-25, 25-23, 23-25).
Post-match interview with Ai Takahashi
Toshiki: How was your first Italian League final?
Takahashi: It really made me realise once again how incredibly difficult it is to win from here on out. The atmosphere was fantastic; the fans were the most passionate we've seen all season, and the players were really passionate too, so I really felt the importance of every single point.
We played very good volleyball today, but we couldn't win the first set, so how should I put it, it was a waste of the first set. But I think we showed that we can fight, that we have the strength, so I think this final is really about the difficulty of a one-point match.
Toshiki: Towards the end of the first set, after Monza had won set point, Perugia broke the ball repeatedly, but no balls were tossed to Takahashi. Was he in a mindset of "Bring it to me!"?
Takahashi: Yes, to be honest, I wanted to make the decision, but it was also because of Fernando's (setter) trust, and I was in the back row, so it was quite difficult. Also, Perugia's serves were strong, and it was difficult to use the pipes, so I wasn't entrusted with the toss at the end, but I think that it was a set that the team should have won, or had to win.
Toshiki: Perugia is a team that Monza has not beaten yet this year, but what is the difficulty in winning against them?
Takahashi: The difficulty is that we still don't have an image of winning, so we were able to imagine winning when we won the third match against Trento (who we played in the semi-finals), and that's why we were able to create our own rhythm after the third match, and we clearly understood what kind of volleyball we need to play to compete against Trento. There are still many matches left in this final, or rather, we still have a chance, so the first thing we need to do is win the next match so that we can imagine winning. I think it will be difficult to know how to beat Perugia if we don't have confidence, so I think the most important thing is to win first.
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