In the second match of the Italian Men's Volleyball League playoff final, Monza, where Takahashi Ai plays, faced Perugia on Sunday, April 21st local time, and won 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-11).
Takahashi Ai started in the game and scored 14 points.
First set starting lineup
Monza
OH: Ma (Canada), Takahashi
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Lepki (Canada)
S: Cachopa (Brazil)
L: Gazzini (Italy)
Perugia
OH: Semeniuk (Poland), Plotnicki (Ukraine)
MB: Flavio (Brazil), Russo (Italy)
OP: Bentara (Tunisia)
S: Giannelli (Italy)
L: Coraci (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
MVP: OH Stephen Marr
28 points (1 serve, 4 blocks)
Attack Effectiveness Rate 58.82%
OH Ai Takahashi
14 points (serves 2)
Attack effectiveness rate 36.00%
As a result, Monza now has one win and one loss in the finals.
The second leg of the playoff final will be held at Perugia's home ground on Thursday, April 25th at 1:00 am Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
Victory at Monza!!!
Following their defeat in Milan the previous day, Monza also defeated Perugia in a full set to bring the total score in finals to 1 win and 1 loss.
Moreover, just as Milan's first win of the season against Trentino was also Monza's first win of the season against Perugia. I think the wind is definitely starting to shift in both teams' favor.
I watched the game on site again that day (however, due to various circumstances, media passes were not issued and it was just general spectators).
Tickets were sold out, and final commemorative T-shirts were distributed to each seat, so the Monza venue was dyed entirely blue that day, except for the Perugia supporters' seats.
While it was expected that Monza would return OP Schwartz, who performed well in the first game, to the starting lineup, they started with the same 3-OH system as in the first game, with OH Repke opposite the setter.
But in the end, this worked.
As expected, the most impressive was Marr, who scored the most points of both teams with 26 points, and had an attack final rate of 681 TP3T, making him the MVP.
It was really reliable. It was like the poor performance in the first game was a lie, and if we hit it, it was almost a sure thing.
He also had the most blocks on the team with four points, and I think that together with Takahashi on the opposite corner, he was able to put good pressure on the opposing OP Ventara and force him into making mistakes.
While Ma was the MVP of the entire match, Takahashi's performance was undoubtedly key in the comeback after the set count was 1-2.
In the beginning of the fourth set, he had a series of service aces with varying speed, stable reception, and a high attack success rate throughout the match. In the fourth and fifth sets alone, the numbers increased to an astonishing 801 TP3T. In terms of points, he also scored 9 points, more than half of his total points, in just these two sets.
His high-speed pipe attack after receiving the ball himself during a rally was truly a work of art.
He was also the man who converted the set point in the fourth set and the match point in the fifth set.
During this playoff, there were many times when they were entrusted with the ball on set point but couldn't make it, but in this match, both players made it with one shot. Amazing.
OH Leon, who came on as a substitute for Perugia, performed incredibly well with an attack success rate of 761 TP and 3 T, giving Monza a hard time until the end, but Monza's serve receive team did a good job of containing his serves, which I think was also a big reason for the victory.
As with serve reception, I feel that Monza's defense has really improved since entering the playoffs. Before, it was like attacking with serves and not scoring directly with the serve, but it seems like the team is increasingly adopting a more skillful fighting style of picking up the ball, connecting it, rebounding, and winning the rally.
We still have one more win to go, and two more to go until we win the championship.
I think there are still some tough games ahead, but if we can win the next away game and see the championship at home, nothing would make us happier.
Forza MONZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Photo: Legavolleyball.it, author
English 
Japanese