In the third round of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Siena at home on October 16th local time and won 3-0 (25-18, 29-27, 25-17), earning their second league win.
Ishikawa Yuki started on the bench for the first time that day and did not enter the game as a substitute.
Starting lineup for the first set
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ebadipour (Iran)
MB: Vitelli, Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Pollo
L: Passage
Siena
OH: Van Halderen (Netherlands), Petrić (Serbia)
MB: Ricci, Mazzone
OP: Pinari
S: Finoli (Argentina)
L: Bonami
Match Report
On this day, Milan started Melgarejo and Vitelli in the starting lineup for the first time, replacing OH Ishikawa and MB Piano, who had been starters in the first two games of the season.
The first set started with Siena blocking a point to stop OH Ebadipoul, but she quickly regained the points herself.
After that, Milan continued to score with spikes from OP Patri and other efforts, and then with the opponent's mistakes and blocks from MB Vitelli, Milan took a big lead at 9-5.
After that, both teams continued to get side outs, but in the final minutes, Patri and OH Melgarejo hit service aces to put Milan ahead at 21-14, and finally, with a mistake by Siena, Milan took the first set 25-18.
The second set was a back-and-forth battle with the score never separated by more than two points.
Milan's OP Patri was in top form that day, while Siena's OP Pinali was at the center of the site outs.
From the middle of the game, Pinali got a service ace and Siena took the lead until the end. Siena was the first to get set point at 23-24, but they were just one point away, and Pinali made a spike error, allowing Milan to take the lead.
After a long deuce, Patri scored a spike to give Milano the second set 29-27.
In the third set that followed, MB Rosell made consecutive blocks early on, and Milan extended their lead to 6-3.
After that, Milan further widened the lead to 10-5 with a spike from OH Melgarejo after tenacious receiving and a service ace from Rosell.
Siena also scored points with substitute OH Swan Ngape (younger brother of France's Ngape), but Milan extended their lead to 19-13 in the final minutes with a quick shot and an ace from Vitelli.
After that, Siena made one mistake after another, and Milan was already in a winning mood. In the end, Milan closed the set with a 25-17 victory over Siena, thanks to a spike from Patri, who was in top form with 20 points, an attack success rate of 561 TP and 3 T.
The MVP of the match was Milan's opposite, Patri.
Milan's next match will be away against Modena on Sunday, 23 October at 15:30 local time.
Thoughts etc.
It was sad that Ishikawa didn't get a chance to play, but the fact that the team was able to perform this well even without him was a big plus for the team.
Last season, the team's outside hitter depth was thin, and without Ishikawa or Jaskier (USA, currently in Beijing), their performance would have plummeted...
However, on this day Ishikawa was on the bench without any supporters by his side, and it seemed like there was no sign of him playing from the start.
I hope it's just a case of poor condition, but I'm a little worried. I hope there's nothing wrong.
Even so, Patry was really reliable today. If he hits it, it's a win.
What's more, despite taking a total of 32 spikes, he only made one mistake and was blocked zero times, which is also impressive.
Today, Patry was a reliable big brother (lol).
I hope they continue to maintain this form in the future!!
Rosell also made 4 blocks that day, giving the team a total of 8 blocks, and it felt like Milan was getting back to the blocking they had last season.
It feels good to be a team!
I think our opponent, Siena, had a talented team, but they made too many spike errors and were blocked too often.
Milan had 7, while Siena had 20. Even if Milan's serve and block defense were good, these numbers are not good.
In particular, Siena's opposite, Pinali, is a player I'm secretly rooting for, so I hope he does his best.
Milan's next opponent is Modena.
This is the team that includes Brazilian setter Bruno and French setter Ngape (older brother).
This is also the team where Ishikawa made his Serie A debut, and the two were teammates at that time.
Don't miss the heated exchange between Ishikawa and the others over the net, and don't miss the interaction between them after the game (lol)!!
All Italian league matches are broadcast live and archived on Volleyball World TV! If you haven't done so yet, check out the link below to find out how to watch and cheer on the players together!
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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