Last week, eight games were played over three days. Civitanova and Trento were absent due to the World Club Championships being held in Brazil. Civitanova came in second and Trento came in third. The winner was the local Brazilian powerhouse Sada Cruzeiro. While most of the team was made up of Brazilians and Brazilian national team players, Cuban Lopez, who was named MVP, stood out. He's jumping too much (lol).
[no_toc][extoc]
PICK UP: Vibo Valentia vs Padova
Returning to the topic of Serie A, due to personal lack of time and frequent sleepiness, I was only able to watch the only match during this period, between Vibo Valentia and Padova on the 11th, but it was a very exciting game.
As you know, Vibo Valentia is the team that Japanese opposite Nishida Yutaka belongs to, but he has not yet recovered from his injury and is benched. Furthermore, just before the match, Douglas, one of the points getters in the OH, suddenly returned to his home country of Brazil because he could not adapt to the Italian environment, which put the team in a very difficult situation. The team's record was also quite bad, with 2 wins and 8 losses.
On the other hand, Padova is a dark horse team made up of mostly young players over the age of 20, but they have beaten strong teams such as Trento and Piacenza, with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses. Furthermore, Ai Takahashi has joined them from Japan, making this a very powerful team this season, and we are looking forward to seeing how they perform in the second half of the season.
With the team in such a state, I thought "Vivo might lose easily," but when the match started, Vivo was very good. Since Nishida left in late November, Vivo had been playing in an unconventional formation with Douglas, Mauricio (Brazil), and Basic (France) on the outside and in the front order, without using his regular opposite. However, with Douglas gone, in the match against Padua, OP Bici (Italy) was used as a starter, and the team reverted to the standard formation.
I don't know if it was because of this or because Douglas was absent, but the atmosphere was good and the court was bright at Vivo. It is undeniable that Bisi lacked firepower, but Mauricio's spikes, who had struggled offensively until now, were in top form, and Flavio (Brazil) in the middle also did a great job with seven blocks. Other players also moved well, and 19-year-old Nicotola, who was used as a relief server, also performed well with two aces. In any case, the team had boundless energy, and they remained unfazed even when they were trailing by more than five points, and in the second set they turned the game around in the final stages to take the set.
Nevertheless, Padua gradually regained its form. OP Weber (Germany) was in poor form with many mistakes and blocks, but the efforts of the young ace players Bottolo (Italy) and Lepke (Canada) forced the match into a full set.
Padova had been undefeated in full sets this season. It seemed like Vibo's momentum was over, but Vibo, who was bright on the court until the end, managed to grab the final set with the support of his home fans, and won against Padova in full sets, earning his third valuable victory.
Today's Vivo was really good and exciting to watch. I think that if Nishida returns to Vivo, they will become a very scary team. Anyway, there were a lot of things going on, but I was glad to see Vivo in good health. I'm looking forward to the second half of the game.
On the other hand, Padova. Although they lost, they are also a good team. Their uniforms are cool too (lol). I think Takahashi Ai will be aiming for the number 2 position where Lepky is now, but Lepky is also a pretty good player, so it will be a tough battle for a regular spot. I don't think Takahashi has any problems with reception and serving, so I think the key will be how much he can appeal with his spikes, blocks, and communication. I hope that when Padova plays against Vibo again in the second half, it will be a Japanese showdown!
However, the spread of infections believed to be caused by the Omicron strain is once again threatening volleyball, with players in Piacenza and Perugia testing positive for the coronavirus and games being postponed. There is also data showing that the Omicron strain has a low risk of developing severe symptoms, so I personally hope that in the future it will be treated just like the flu.
English 
Japanese