In the 10th round of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Takahashi Ai's team, Padova, played against Trento away on Saturday, December 3rd local time, and lost in straight sets 0-3 (15-25, 16-25, 21-25).
In this match, Takahashi started only the first set and entered the match midway through the third set as a serve, but only managed to score one point.
First set starting lineup
Padua
OH: Takahashi, De Smet (Belgium)
MB: Volpato (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
Torrent
OH: Micheletto (Italy), Lavia (Italy)
MB: Podrascanin (Serbia), Lisinac (Serbia)
OP: Kaziski (Bulgaria)
S: Sbertori (Italy)
L: Laurenzano (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
Immediately after the start of the first set, Trento's S. Sbertori scored a service ace between Padova's OH De Smet and L. Zenger, and then he continued to block OP Petkovic, and with an ace from OP Kaziski, Trento pulled away from Padova with a score of 3-6 from the early stages.
Furthermore, Takahashi was caught by Trent's block twice in a row, and OH De Smet's pipe attack was also stopped. Trent scored an amazing five block points in the early part of the set, and pulled away from Padua with a score of 5-11.
After that, Padua's spikes finally started to land, but Trento continued to attack with their serves and scored one after another with spikes from MB Lisinac and OH Ravia, widening the gap to 8-17.
Padova brought on OH Asparuhov (Bulgaria) to replace Takahashi, but the situation remained unchanged.
Towards the end of the set, MB Volpato blocked OH Ravia to get revenge and make the score 12-20, but in the end, OH Ravia's spike was successful and Trent took the first set with ease, 15-25.
In the second set, Padua left OH Asparuhov on the court.
Early in the game, Trento's MB Lisinac hit an ace to put them behind 3-5, but Padova managed to hang on with some spikes from OP Petkovic.
However, while Padua was unable to attack with their serves, Trento then got service aces from OH Micheletto and then again from MB Lisinac, widening the gap to 9-13.
Padua's OH De Smet fought hard with his spikes, but Trent continued to score with MB Lisinac's spikes and other efforts, and S Sbertori hit his second ace of the match to make the score 13-21. Finally, OP Kaziski scored a spike to make it 16-25, and Trent took the set.
In the third set, Padova made a series of mistakes from the beginning, such as dribbling and touching the net, allowing Trento to take the lead 2-5.
After that, Trent widened the lead to 5-10 with OP Kaziski's spike and OH Ravia's ace.
Padua also succeeded in breaking MB Crosart's serve twice in a row for the first time in the match to take the lead at 8-11, but then OH Gardini, who replaced OH Asparhov, made consecutive errors and the score was back down by five points at 10-15.
However, Padua hung in there after that with the help of OH Gardini's spikes, and just as the game was finally starting to look like a proper one at 18-21, relief server Takahashi Ai was brought on.
With a sharp serve, they disrupted the opponent's serve reception, and then carefully handled the free ball that came back, which OP Petkovic scored with confidence to close the gap to 21-29.
This was the first time in the match that Trent was forced to use a timeout, and the serve after the timeout was also a good one that disrupted the opponent's reception, but this time OH Ravia scored a high set to make the score 19-22 in favor of Trent.
This was the end of Padua's counterattack, and in the end, OP Petkovic's spike was blocked by OH Micheletto, and Trento won the set 21-25, defeating Padua in straight sets 0-3.
MVP: MB Srecko Lisinac (14 points (2 serves, 1 block), 73% attack success rate)
Takahashi's performance was limited to one point, an attack success rate of 251 TP and 3 T.
Padua now has a total record of 3 wins, 6 losses and 6 points, putting them in provisional 11th place.
The team's next game will be against Siena, who are in 12th place, at home on Thursday, December 8th at 5:00 p.m. local time (1:00 a.m. Japan time) (the match was postponed from the 6th week).
Thoughts etc.
Aside from Takahashi's relief serve in the third set, it was honestly a game that was unbearable to watch...
Perhaps it was because their opponent was the strong Trento, but it seemed to me that Padua had played a new worst game of the season.
It's not clear what Padua really wants to do as a team.
Even though Takahashi was blocked by two attempts, he only managed three spikes and was replaced by Asparuhov early in the first set. However, as always, his serve reception was poor, which made the situation worse.
I wonder how many times we've seen this unfold.
Judging from the expressions on the Padua players' faces, they looked like they were in a lot of pain, and it seemed like they didn't really get what the coach said during the timeout.
Takahashi's expression as seen through the screen was the grimmer one this season, and he also looked as if he was conflicted about something.
Trento is certainly a strong team, but in addition to the regular league they are also playing in the UEFA Champions League, and having played against a Polish team just three days prior to this match, it would not have been surprising if they were still fully fatigued.
However, Padua was unable to put much pressure on Trento that day, so fatigue probably had nothing to do with it.
As someone who supports Padua, I found this match to be boring and painful to watch.
I never want to see a game like this in front of fans again, even if they pay money for it.
However, I think it was a positive thing that Gardini did well in the third set.
Wouldn't it be good to have Gardini and Takahashi diagonally next week?
Coach Cuttini, please think carefully and take the best possible course of action as a team.
And bring back the sparkle the team had at the start of the season.
There's no way around giving it your all and losing.
I can understand that.
However, it looks like Padua has now lost without giving everything they had.
Isn't this such a waste?
I hope that Padua will once again regain its vitality.
Let's keep an eye on the next match against Siena.
Photo: Lega Pallovolo Serie A
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