In the fifth round of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays and is in sixth place in the league, played away against Verona, who are in ninth place, on Sunday, January 22nd (local time) and lost 0-3 (23-25, 25-27, 21-25).
After the match, Milan's Ishikawa Yuki gave us a comment.
-How do you feel looking back on today's game?
Ishikawa: We were led by the opponents in many situations from the first half, and we were caught in the block a lot as a team, so I think that we gave the rhythm to the opponents at those points, and that's what we need to reflect on today.
--In last week's match against Modena, where you were named MVP, you conceded more goals with your spikes than usual. How did today's match go compared to last week's?
Ishikawa: I had a lot of hits last time, so I think it's inevitable that I made some mistakes, but today I hit the ball into the middle two times in a row, so I think I need to fix that.
--It seemed like you were hitting more soft shots, especially in the third set.
Ishikawa: If the toss was low, it would get blocked and I couldn't hit it quickly, so when that happened I started hitting it a little more softly.
--You lost in straight sets. Was there anything that differed between what you expected in the preparation stage and the actual match?
Ishikawa: There was nothing in particular that was different from what I had expected, and I knew that there was height over there, so of course I took that into consideration, but I think I was a bit too optimistic.
- In the middle of the second set, when Ishikawa was serving, the opposing team took a timeout just before and brought in a relief receiver, so it seemed like they were clearly wary of Ishikawa's serve. How do you feel in situations like that?
Ishikawa: No, I just try to be a little more careful and not change too much, or rather, I try not to change anything in my thinking. Today I did make one serve mistake after a timeout, so I think that's something I need to reflect on.
Please say a few words about next week's match against Perugia.
Ishikawa: Perugia also has a high block and is a team with very good serves, so serve reception and serving will be important. We also made a lot of mistakes, so I think serve reception will be important.
Photo: Author
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Match report here ↓
English 
Japanese