In the 11th round of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays and is in 7th place in the league, played against Taranto, who is in 10th place, away on Sunday, December 11th local time, and won 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21).
Ishikawa Yuki was in the starting lineup for this match as well, but his individual performance was poor, with only five goals.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Ishikawa, Ebadipour (Iran)
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Taranto
OH: Antonov (Italy), Lepke (Canada)
MB: Gargiulo (Italy), Aletti (Italy)
OP: Stefani (Italy)
S: Falaschi (Italy)
L: Rizzo (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, Milan started off with MB Vitelli scoring consecutive quick points, and then extended their lead to 8-4 with four consecutive points, including two consecutive aces, from Porro's serve.
However, Taranto gradually closed the gap with spikes from OP Stefani and service aces, and in the middle of the game OH Repke's pipe attack made it 17-18.
Milan's OH Ishikawa struggled with his spiking, so he was replaced by OH Melgarejo in an attempt to change the flow of the game, but Taranto did not let the momentum go to them with blocks from MB Aletti and service aces in the final stages.
In the end, OP Patri was caught by Taranto's block and Taranto took the first set 23-25.
In the second set, Milan switched the positions of their two OH players from the first set.
In the early stages, OP Patri scored one point after another with his spikes, giving Milan a 7-5 lead.
Milan further extended their lead to 17-13 in the middle of the match with three consecutive breaks, including an ace from MB Vitelli's serve, but Taranto scored consecutive points with a block from S Falaschi and a spike and serve from OH Lepki to tie the score at 20-20.
However, Taranto continued to make mistakes from here, and Milan reached set point with four consecutive points at 24-20. Finally, OH Ebadipoour scored a pipe attack to give Milan the set, 25-22.
In the third set, Milan started the match with MB Piano instead of MB Rosell.
In the early stages, Milan's MB Vitelli and OH Ishikawa, and Taranto's OH Repke, were trading side outs with spikes, and the match continued with the score tied at 9-9.However, OH Ishikawa then lost consecutive attacks due to blocks and mistakes, allowing Taranto to take the lead at 12-9.
Milan took OH Ishikawa off the court and sent OH Melgarejo back onto the court, but from there OP Stefani and OH Lepke got good side-outs with their spikes, and Milan was unable to close the gap, and the set was coming to an end with the score at 16-20.
However, from this point on, OH Melgarejo came to life, scoring consecutive spikes to close the gap to 18-20, and with some great serves from OP Patri, he scored consecutive spikes on the counter, making for four consecutive breaks and successfully turning the game around to 23-21.
Then an attack from OH Melgarejo put Milano on match point at 24-22, and he scored a service ace to put Milano back on track and take the set at 25-22.
OH Melgarejo remained on the court in the fourth set.
Immediately after the start, S. Pollo scored two consecutive service aces, and Milan also made a successful start by stopping the opponent's OH Antonov in the front line, leading 7-4.
Milan then continued to score side outs mainly through OP Patri and OH Melgarejo, and with consecutive blocks from MB Piano, they extended their lead to 16-11 in the middle of the game.
Although a mistake allowed Taranto to break through, Milan did not let the momentum slip away, and until the end of the game, S. Pollo supplied tosses to various attackers, making it difficult for the opponents to focus on one target, and finally OH Melgarejo scored a high spike to make the score 25-21, and Milan won 3-1 against Taranto.
MVP: OH Osniel Melgarejo (12 points (1 serve), attack success rate 691 TP 3 T)
Ishikawa scored 5 points, with an attack success rate of 361 TP3T and a serve receive success rate of 571 TP3T.
Milan now remains in provisional 7th place with 17 points from 6 wins and 5 losses, and has qualified for the Coppa Italia, which is open to teams finishing 8th or higher in the first half of the season.
The first match of the second half of the season will be against 8th-placed Cisterna away on Saturday, December 17th at 18:00 local time (2:00 Japan time).
The report for the first half is here:
Thoughts etc.
Congratulations on the victory and qualification for the Coppa Italia!!!
As of last week, Takahashi Ai's participation in the Coppa Italia with Padova was cancelled, so we really wanted him to play for Milan, and we're glad that this has been achieved!
Moreover, if they had advanced in 8th place, they would have had the chance to face Perugia, who are unbeaten this season, in their first Coppa Italia match, so it was a big deal that they were able to avoid Perugia by advancing in 7th place!!
If we make it to the Top 4 we will definitely cover the event on-site so please look forward to it!!!
Although Ishikawa managed to win this match, it was a very tough one for him.
We had a hard time getting our spikes on target, and our serves didn't have the power they've had in the last few matches.
Even so, even without him, Milan have reliable teammates this season.
In particular, the explosiveness of OH Melgarejo, who replaced Ishikawa, was incredible!!
Although he doesn't have as many tricks up his sleeve as Ishikawa, he was able to bring momentum back to a team that was at a disadvantage with his height and power in his spikes.
It was also great that middle bassist Rosell and piano made a full recovery.
It's true that the 3OH formation up until last week was entertaining to watch (lol), but I still feel more comfortable watching the normal formation.
In any case, I'm sure Ishikawa was disappointed, but I'm really glad he was able to celebrate his birthday match with a splendid victory!!
Happy 27th birthday!!!
Taranto was a very offensive team, led by OP Stefani, but their serves and serve reception seemed weak in this match.
It could have been dangerous if Melgarejo had been more disruptive at the reception.
Time flies and the second half of the regular round in the Italian League begins next week.
First of all, aim to advance to the playoffs and then to the semi-finals, so do your best Milan!!!
Ah, I'll be going there next week for an on-site interview!!
Photo: Lega Pallovolo Serie A
English 
Japanese