The seventh round of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, a match between Ishikawa Yuki's Milan (8th place) and Takahashi Ai's Padova (10th place) was held in Milan on Sunday, February 5th local time.
Milan won the match against Padua 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-19).
In this match, both Ishikawa and Takahashi started, with Ishikawa scoring 19 points, second on the team, and Takahashi also scoring 13 points, second on the team.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Padua
OH: Takahashi (Japan), Asparuhov (Bulgaria)
MB: Canella (Italy), Crosato (Italy)
OP: Petkovic (Serbia)
S: Saitta (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
The early part of the first set was a close match with side outs, and Milan scored points mainly through OP Patri and MB Rosell, while Padova scored points mainly through OP Petkovic, to advance to 10-9.
However, immediately afterwards, OH Ishikawa blocked OP Petkovic's spike, and then MB Vitelli and OH Ishikawa scored with spikes, putting Milan ahead at 14-9.
Padua replaced their setter with Zoppellari (Italy), but OP Patri continued to score with attacks, blocks, and serves, helping Milan extend their lead to 22-15.
Milan held the set point, and Padova managed to score three consecutive points with a spike from OP Petkovic, but in the end, OH Ishikawa's spike was successful and Milan took the set 25-18.
In the second set, Padua started with S. Zoppellari.
In the early stages, Padua took the lead 3-5 with a spike from OH Takahashi off MB Canella's serve, but Milan continued to break the game with spikes from OP Patri and other plays to turn the game around and take the lead 11-10.
However, OP Petkovic continued to score with spikes and serves, and Padova took the lead again at 14-16. OH Ishikawa made a touch net error while trying to block OH Takahashi's spike, and Padova extended their lead to 18-21.
Padova made some mistakes towards the end of the game, bringing Milano to within one point at 22-23, but OH Asparuhov scored a spike to give Padova the set back at 23-25.
In the third set, Milan started with OH Ebadipour (Iran), who had been brought on midway through the second set.
Milan started off with a 3-0 lead thanks to spikes and blocks from OP Patri, and Padova fought back with spikes from OH Takahashi, but Milan continued to break with blocks from OH Ebadipoul to make it 9-5.
After that, Milan's OP Patri continued to get solid side outs, and with blocks from MB Rosell and MB Vitelli, they continued to break the ball, widening the gap to 18-12.
Padua also narrowed the gap to 22-18 with attacks from OP Guzzo, who came on as a substitute, and serves from MB Canella, but in the end, OH Ebadipoule's spike was successful and Milan took the set 25-20.
In the fourth set, OH Takahashi started off scoring with spikes and serves, giving Padua a 1-4 lead.
From there, OH Ishikawa scored consecutive spikes, and then OH Ebadipoul scored a service ace to tie the score at 9-9 for Milan.
After that, OH Ishikawa made a mistake on serve reception, giving Padua the lead again at 11-13, but immediately afterwards he got a side out and the serve came back to OH Ishikawa, who then scored three consecutive breaks with his own pipe attack and a service ace, giving Milan a 15-13 lead.
Milan further extended their lead to 19-15 with an ace from MB Rosell and a spike from OP Patri, and another service ace from OH Ishikawa in the final stages put Milan at match point at 24-19.
Finally, MB Rosell brilliantly shut out OH Asparuhov's spike from OH Ishikawa's serve, and Milan took the set 25-19.
As a result, in a match between two Japanese teams, Milan won 3-1 against Padua, following the first half.
MVP: OP Jean Patrie (22 points (1 serve, 3 blocks), attack success rate 671 TP 3T)
Milan's Ishikawa Yuki had 19 points (2 on serves and 1 on blocks), an attack success rate of 531 TP3T, and a serve receive success rate of 521 TP3T, while Padua's Takahashi Ai had 13 points (1 on serves), an attack success rate of 55%, and a serve receive success rate of 29%.
With this result, Milano moved up to 7th place with 9 wins, 9 losses and 26 points, while Padova maintained 10th place with 6 wins, 12 losses and 15 points.
Next week, Milan will play away against Piacenza on Sunday, February 12th at 15:30 local time (11:30 Japan time), while Padova will play at home against Verona at the same time.
Thoughts on the match etc.
The second round of the Japanese showdown has arrived!
First of all, there were two things that surprised me when I saw the video.
The first was the large number of Japanese and Asian people in the audience.
The venue was filled with Japanese and Asian people, making me wonder, "Is the game really being played in Italy?!"
I don't think it was as bad as this the last time we held it in Padua, but I think this is also due to the fact that there are a lot of Japanese and other Asian people living in Milan itself, and that the barriers to traveling from Japan are lower than last year.
After the match, Takahashi commented on Twitter, "It felt like I was fighting in Japan," and I was surprised that it really felt that way even when watching the video.
I was reminded once again of how much attention both Ishikawa and Takahashi are receiving, and how much attention this Japanese match is receiving.
Thank you to everyone who came to the venue and to all the support from Japan!
— Ran Takahashi (@Ran_volley0902) February 5, 2023
It felt like I was playing in Japan. pic.twitter.com/SsOcjnPCwu
And the other one is Takahashi's hairstyle!!!
Before the match, he reported on social media that he had cut his hair, but I think he cut it too short, or maybe it was just too short. (laughs)
His other Padua teammates had also had their hair cut short, so I wondered if he had done the same, but it seems that there was a TV crew from Japan covering the event, so I guess it was okay for him...
Well, what's amazing is that he looks cool even with this hairstyle.
I'm also going to Padua next week, so I'd like to ask him directly about this hairstyle (lol).
Japan national team coach Blanc was also present in the official seats for this match.
The match was heated from the start of the first set, with Milan's Patri scoring with a powerful spike and Padua's Takahashi scoring with a skillful roll shot.
Takahashi, you're really impressive right from the start!
I could also clearly hear the voices of the Padua cheering squad and the Men in Black.
In fact, if you just listen to the sound, it sounds like Padua Home (lol).
I was also thrilled by Porro's consecutive Rosels, as all three of his forward rotations were Rosels, taking side outs.
It's true that Padua doesn't seem to be very good at blocking mid-range attacks, and the combination of Rosell and Porro has really improved this year, so go for it!
Also, Milan has a very good patriot, who is extremely stable.
Come to think of it, Patry also had a haircut.
Both Takahashi and Patry, the group that had their hair cut, seemed to be in good shape (lol).
In the first set, Milano took control of the game by scoring consecutive points from Ishikawa's block in the middle of the game.
Vitelli's foot save was also good.
Padua then made a rare move by bringing on reserve setter Zoppelari.
However, immediately after the substitution, the combination was not working well and Takahashi was caught in a block.
While this was going on, rear guard Ishikawa made a back attack from the right during a rally (which was really cool).
When the opposite forward is unable to open up to the right due to a block, it's a common pattern for the back player to open up to the right and hit the ball to ensure the width of the net for an attack, but I still love this play no matter how many times I see it!
Ishikawa's spike at the end of the set made it 25-18 Milan!
In the second set, Ishikawa made a determined one-handed dig early on, followed by a spike without any run-up from Patry.
But after that, the Men in Black called out "Thank you!" to Ishikawa when he missed his serve lol.
I'll also send some merciless sarcasm to former Padua players (laughs).
In this set, Padova's Petkovic was outstanding with his spiking and serving.
However, in the middle of the game, Ishikawa's own pass was messed up, and Melgarejo managed to get the ball under the net, which he hit and scored in a super play!!
No, no, that's just too cool.
However, Padua prevented the comeback with spikes from Takahashi and Petkovic.
Milan then brought on Ebadipoour, who immediately attacked and scored an ace!!!
Ebadipour has had few appearances since Melgarejo established himself in the starting lineup, so it's great to see him doing so well.
Eva is famous as the captain of the Iranian national team, but for me she is also a player I support, who played for the Polish team Belhatov for five seasons, and I spoke to her a lot during interviews this season, so she is one of the players I am hoping to see do well.
Come to think of it, Padova's Petkovic was also a former Belhatov and Eva's teammate.
Also, there are a relatively large number of former Padova players in Milan, such as Ishikawa and Vitelli, so I was reminded that these two teams have many different connections beyond just the two Japanese players (and they were still talking amongst themselves after the game).
However, thanks to Petkovic's spikes and serves, as well as Zenger's excellent digs, Padova won the set 23-25.
The beginning of the third set saw Ishikawa and Takahashi trading blows.
With Milan leading 5-3, Takahashi scored a powerful left spike, and Ishikawa retaliated with a two-attack (without a fake set).
Also, from this set onwards, Asparuhov's mistakes became more noticeable in Padua.
There were serve errors, spike errors where he rotated his arms strangely like Gape, and their serve reception was poor even with relatively slow balls, so from Milan's perspective it seemed like the game was playing out easily, as they only had to aim for Asparuhov and didn't have to hit any particularly demanding serves.
I wonder if they're still feeling the bad feeling from the end of last week's match against Siena.
The set continued with Milan in the lead, but even so, Ran Takahashi was hitting the mark.
He's good at spiking, and even showed off his divine skill at blocking the opponent's jump serve at 15-10 by lifting it with one hand just in time to turn it into an A pass (and even opening himself up for a spike).
But Milan's Patry is still unstoppable, and Ebadipoul also does a great job with his blocking and spiking.
Padua's MB Canella's floater serve was good (although according to Fukuzawa, Milan's L Pesaresi is weak against floaters), but Milan won the third set 25-20.
Takahashi started the fourth set.
He scored the first one with a spike, then got two consecutive breaks with a serve ace! (Ishikawa missed an attack during that time, and got another "Thank you" call (lol)).
Then next up was Ishikawa who scored consecutive spikes!!
And when Takahashi hit a pipe shot, Ishikawa returned the favor with a pipe shot!!!
And then Eva scores a service ace!!!
Eva-chan!!! (lol)
Well, this is an exciting development.
However, Ishikawa was thrown off balance by MB Crosart's serve, and Padua took the lead at 11-13.
But from this point on, Ishikawa really got into gear.
When Petkovic made an attacking mistake and the serve came to Ishikawa, he picked up the returned ball and hit it himself!
Bran, who was standing behind Ishikawa and serving next, was grinning (lol).
He then scored a service ace right on the line to turn the game around, 15-14!
Yuki Ishikawa, the man who can turn his own mistakes into even more points, is seriously amazing...
From here on, it was all Milan's pace, and Takahashi was blocked by his former teammate, Vitelli.
In the end, Mr. Ishikawa got another serve ace, and then a Rossel block from his serve set Milano at 25-18!!
So Milan won after all.
In the end, Milan's Patri was unstoppable until the end, and Ishikawa's serve in the fourth set was too effective.
At Padua, Takahashi himself looked to be in very good form, judging from the numbers, but Asparuhov, who was opposite him, somehow didn't perform so well.
As expected, if your serve reception is poor, it will have a negative impact on your attack as well.
Ideally, even if you make a bad play, you should be able to make up for it with another play and avoid losing your form.
Well, not only did he do that, but it was our Professor Ishikawa who succeeded in stepping things up even further (laughs).
A damn good mentality.
But Takahashi is also a player who is good at controlling his own play during a match.
Perhaps he too has come this far by following in Professor Ishikawa's footsteps, so Professor Ishikawa is truly great...
But I think it was a really exciting game with some great plays and some fierce exchanges between the two teams!!
For now, this marks the end of all scheduled matches between the two teams this season.
There is still a chance we could meet in the 5th place match, but I need Milan to at least make it to the top 4, so I'm not thinking about that! (laughs)
Which team will these two face off against next?
Personally, I would like to take Takahashi to Poland (lol), so next time I'd like to see the two face off in the European Champions League as the first ever match between two Japanese players!!!
But this isn't just a pipe dream.
Anyway, I’m already really curious about where I’ll be joining from.
But first and foremost, we need to get good results this season.
Milan will advance to the playoffs, preferably avoiding finishing in 8th place (as they would face the strongest team, Perugia).
Padua avoided last place (automatic relegation).
Forza Japonese!!!
Photo: PowervolleyMilano
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