The Italian Serie A Men's Superliga kicked off last weekend on Saturday, October 9th!
Nishida Yuji, the Japanese national team opposite who transferred to Italy's Vibo Valentia this season, played against Taranto away on October 10th. Nishida scored the team's first league point, and after that, he continued to score points one after another with his height and sharp spikes that belie his short height of 186 cm. In addition to Nishida, Vibo Valentia's Brazilian side, Douglas, was in good form with a high success rate, and won the first and second sets. In the third set, Taranto, who successfully fought back with the help of young opposite Stefani, who was also a key player in the recent U19 World Championship victory, took back the points, but the fourth set was once again Vibo's pace from the start. Then, with the score at 22-20, Nishida was given the serve. Until then, he had been making noticeable service mistakes, but from there he hit three consecutive service aces!!! Nishida wowed the Italian fans with a brilliant performance that reminded them of the 2019 match against Canada, and Vibo Valentia won their first match 3-1.
Douglas led the team with 20 points.
In addition, last season's champions, Civitanova, played away against Padua. Setter De Secco, a bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, skillfully controlled all five of his powerful attackers to keep the opponents at bay, and Civitanova won the match 3-0 without any trouble. Also, Modena, one of the "Big 4" in Italy, played away against Monza. Modena had a solid lineup this season, with the return of Brazilian national team player Bruno and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist France national team player Nugapet, and the addition of Real to the wing and Nimir to the opposite, but they struggled with the serves of Monza's Grozelle and Djavaronok, losing 0-3 to Monza. It was an unexpected start to the season with a loss.
Civitanova shows consistent strength again this year
Milan, the team Ishikawa Yuki plays for, does not have any games and will start from the second week of the league.
Italian Serie A 1st week results
Perugia vs Cisterna 3-0
Trento vs Verona 3-0
Monza vs Modena 3-0
Piacenza vs Ravenna 3-1
Padova vs Civitanova 0-3
Taranto vs Vibo Valentia 1-3
In the second week, Ishikawa Yuki's Milan will play their opening match at home against Monza, who defeated Modena. Nishida Yuji's Vibo Valentia will play at home against the powerful Trento, led by Kaziski and Micheletto.
Week 2 schedule (local time)
Saturday, October 16th
18:00 Ravenna vs Taranto
20:30 Cisterna vs Padua
Sunday, October 17
15:30 Civitanova vs Piacenza
18:00Milanvs Monza
18:00 Verona vs Perugia
20:30Vibo Valentiavs Torrent
Photo: FIVB, Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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