In the fifth round of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova, played against Taranto away on Sunday, October 30th local time, and came back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 16-14).
Takahashi Ai started every set in this match as well, and contributed to the team's victory with 18 points, the second highest on the team.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Takahashi (Japan), De Smet (Belgium)
MB: Volpato (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Taranto
OH: Antonov (Italy), Lepke (Canada)
MB: Aletti (Italy), La Rizza (Italy)
OP: Stefani (Italy)
S: Falaschi (Italy)
L: Rizzo (Italy)
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, Padua got off to a good start with consecutive blocks to lead 3-0, but Taranto quickly caught up with Takahashi by stopping him, making the score 5-5.
After that, Padua took side outs mainly through Petkovic and Takahashi, while Taranto took side outs mainly through Stefani, and even when one team broke with a block or an ace, the other team returned the same, and the game was closely fought until the middle of the match.
However, Taranto's Lepke, who played for Padua last season, blocked a spike from former teammate Takahashi to make the score 17-18, and then De Smet was broken on the next serve, allowing Taranto to make it 17-20 with two consecutive breaks.
Padua put up some resistance with a spike that broke through Takahashi's three-man block, but Taranto's Falaschi hit an ace to widen the gap even further, and in the end Asparuhov, who replaced De Smet, touched the net, giving Taranto the set 19-25.
In the second set, Padua scored points with De Smet and MB Crosart early on, but continued to make serve errors and struggled to break through.
Meanwhile, Taranto took the lead 8-11 with a block from MB LaRica to stop Petkovic and an ace from Lepki.
Padua tried to improve the situation by substituting De Smet and Asparuhov again, but they were still unable to break down their opponents' serves and the gap did not narrow.
On the other hand, Taranto extended the lead to 15-19 with another ace from Lepke, and a final spike from Lepke made it 21-25, giving Taranto the set.
In the third set, Padua, with no other options, started the set by substituting Asparuhov for OH De Smet and Canella for MB Volpato.
Padova started the set by breaking down their opponent with effective serving, picking up a Taranto spike to break the opponent in a rally and take a 7-4 lead.
After that, Padua was caught up at 7-7 thanks to a block from Lepke, but an ace from Petkovic and consecutive spike errors from Taranto put them back in the lead at 12-9, and with spikes from Takahashi and Asparuhov they maintained this lead going into the final stages.
In the end, Taranto's OP Stefani missed the target with a spike, and Padua took the set back 25-21.
In the fourth set, Padua's three wide players, Petkovic, Asparuhov, and Takahashi, and Taranto's OP Stefani and OH Lepki, who were in good form, fought for side outs, and the tense game continued until the end, with the score never exceeding three points.
However, Taranto was always ahead, putting Padua in a somewhat difficult situation.
The one who completely changed the flow of the game was opposite Petkovic.
After scoring a spike to make the score 17-17, his serve was going strong from there, and he scored a spike and a service ace, resulting in five consecutive breaks, as Padua took the lead at 22-17.
Takahashi then hit a service ace to put Padua on set point, and Cannella finally scored a quick point to make it 25-19, sending the match into the final set.
In the fifth set, Petkovic continued his momentum from the fourth set and hit two consecutive aces early on to take a 3-0 lead in Padova.
Padua continued to spread the tosses around well and made side outs, and Taranto also scored points mainly with Stefani, but Padua maintained its lead as the game entered the final stages.
A spike from Petkovic put Padua on match point at 14-12, but Taranto caught up with attacks from Stefani and Lepke to bring the score to deuce at 14-14.
However, Petkovic again got a side out with a powerful spike, and finally Takahashi scored a brilliant goal from a high ball connected with a dig by Asparuhov to make it 16-14. Padova came from 0-2 down to win against Taranto in a full set.
The MVP was opposite Petkovic, who had a great game with a team-high 25 points, including 4 aces and 3 blocks.
Takahashi again showed consistent performance on the day, scoring the second-highest number of points with 18 (1 serve and 1 block), with an attack success rate of 501 TP3T and a serve receive success rate of 521 TP3T.
Padua now sits in 9th place with a record of 3 wins, 2 losses and 6 points.
Next week, they will play against Siena at home on Saturday, November 5th at 18:30 local time (2:30 the next day Japan time).
Thoughts etc.
Padua made a great comeback!!
In the first and second sets, we weren't able to attack with our serves, our serve reception was broken, and we were at a loss as to what to do, so to be honest, I wondered if we were going to lose the match.
However, I think the turning point was when my serve started to work and I was able to put pressure on my opponents from the third set.
MVP Petkovic was also amazing!!!
Although there were a lot of spike errors on the day, which was worrying, the serve in the fourth set really saved the team from a difficult situation and brought the momentum firmly in Padova's favor, and it was also great that we were able to start the fifth set with that momentum.
Also, although it may seem like a minor point, it was also very important in this match that Asparuhov managed to withstand being targeted by the opponent's serves.
In this match, even Takahashi conceded only three goals out of 27 passes, but Asparuhov received 25 passes without conceding a single goal, and provided setter Saitta with a success rate of 521 TP3T.
Takahashi also made a significant contribution to the team on both offense and defense.
I was thrilled by his close-quarters cross spike at the end of the first set and his high ball on match point.
However, there were some worrying numbers on the day, with five blocks in attacks and three points conceded in serve receives, so I hope they will be able to correct these issues from next time onwards.
In Taranto, the young Italian player OP Stefani had great offensive power, and especially in the early stages of the match, he seemed to be in complete control of the match with his perfectly coordinated serves and blocks.
The fans' cheers were enthusiastic! (And they even booed the opposing team (lol))
However, in the third set, Japan made many attack and serve mistakes and missed break chances, ultimately giving the flow of the match to Padua.
Although Padova won this time, it is unclear what will happen in the next match, so we are looking forward to the rematch at Padova's home ground in the second half of the league.
Padova currently has 3 wins and 2 losses, a higher winning percentage than 6th-placed Piacenza, but all of their wins have been full sets, which has worked against them, and they are ranked 9th due to points.
Therefore, we would like to win our next match against Siena 3-0 or 3-1 and earn three points!
Forza Padova!!!
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Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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