On October 2nd local time, the Italian Serie A Superliga saw Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, play against Cisterna, with Cisterna defeating Milan 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23). Milan was unable to win their opening match at home.
The day before, Padova, the team that Ai Takahashi plays for, had a dramatic victory over the strong Modena, so I thought they would follow suit, but it wasn't that easy. The set count was 3-0, and although they were close in points in the first and third sets, I think the match was mostly progressing at Cisterna's pace.
Milan's opposite Patri and middle Rosell showed high spike success rates, and Ishikawa also supported the team with a high serve reception success rate even when he was targeted by serves. However, Milan's serve effect was poor overall on this day. There were many serve errors, and even when they went in, they were unable to put enough pressure on the opponent. It also seemed that the team did not have a set serve target.
Also, the spikes of Ebadipoour (Iran), who was playing opposite Ishikawa and making his Italian league debut that day, were not in good condition. I don't know if it was because he didn't match up with setter Porro or if it was just a problem with his own condition, but it seemed like he wasn't performing at half his potential. I think it would have been good to try out substitute Melgarejo more.
On the other hand, Cisterna had few aces, but he served effectively, and the tactic of not finishing with a block or turning back with a dig seemed to work perfectly. Winning rallies with blocks and digs was a style that Milano was good at last season, but on this day, Cisterna took that specialty away from them.
Cisterna's Croatian duo of opposite player Jiric and outside player Sedlacek were impressive in attack, but on the other hand, outside player Caliberda (Germany) and libero Catania (Italy) also made a big contribution in defense. They were a well-organized and good team.
Unfortunately, Milan started the season with a loss, but the league has just started, so I hope they can establish their own style and get a win as soon as possible. I also want Ebadipoul to get back in form, and personally, I want them to use my favorite player, Rosell, as much as possible against Porro (laughs).
The next match will be against Monza on Saturday, October 8th at 18:00 local time (1:00 am the next day in Japan). They are teams with similar strengths, so we want to win here and get on a roll! Good luck Milan!!
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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