In the 8th round of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Ishikawa Yuki's Milan (7th place) played against Piacenza (6th place) away on Sunday, February 12th local time, and lost 1-3 (25-27, 18-25, 25-18, 19-25).
Ishikawa Yuki started in this game and scored 15 points, tying him for the team lead.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Piacenza
OH: Lucarelli (Brazil), Real (Brazil)
MB: Simon (Cuba), Caneschi (Italy)
OP: Romano (Italy)
S: Brisard (France)
L: Scanfera (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, the players fought for side outs in the early stages and the score reached 6-6, but then MB Simon blocked OP Patri and OH Ishikawa in succession, giving Piacenza a 6-9 lead.
However, Milan quickly turned the game around with a service ace from OH Ishikawa to make it 11-10, and from there the score remained close with the difference never expanding beyond three points. Milan continued to score through OP Patri and Piacenza through OH Lucarelli.
Milan then had the first set point at 24-22, but then OH Lucarelli and MB Simon scored consecutive spikes to allow Piacenza to catch up at 24-24 and the match went to deuce.
After that, OP Patri made a spike error, giving Piacenza the set point, but finally OH Lucarelli scored a service ace and Piacenza took the set 25-27.
In the second set, with the score at 4-5 early on, Piacenza extended their lead to 4-12 with seven consecutive breaks from OP Romano's serve, an ace from Piacenza's own side, a spike from OH Real, and a block from S Brizard.
From there, Piacenza continued to score breaks with spikes and blocks from OP Romano, putting them ahead by 10 points at 10-20.
Afterwards, Milan narrowed the gap to 13-20 with some spikes and blocks from OH Ebadipour (Iran), who replaced OH Ishikawa, but in the end, OH Lucarelli's spike was successful and Piacenza took the set 18-25.
In the third set, Milan, with no other options, started the OH with Ishikawa and Ebadipool.
Milan made a series of mistakes early on, allowing Piacenza to take the lead 4-6.
However, a mistake by OP Romano allowed Milano to tie the score at 7-7, and then they went on to score eight consecutive breaks with a service ace from S. Pollo and a spike from OP Patri, extending their lead to 16-8.
Milan continued to widen the lead to 22-12 with a block from MB Vitelli and a two-attack from S. Porro, and then a spike from OH Basic (France), who replaced Piacenza, narrowed the gap slightly, but in the end OH Ishikawa scored a solid spike to give Milan the set a score of 25-18.
In the fourth set, the match was a fierce battle for side outs with neither team giving an inch until the middle of the set, and Milan scored points mainly through OH Ishikawa and OH Ebadipoule, while Piacenza scored points mainly through OP Romano and OH Real, leading to a score of 15-15.
From there, Piacenza successfully broke with an attack from OP Romano to put them ahead by two points at 15-17, and then they further extended their lead to 16-20 with two consecutive breaks from an attack by MB Simon and a block from OP Romano on a serve from S Brizard.
Then, in the final stages, Piacenza broke through with a service ace from MB Simon and had a match point at 18-24, but in the end, OP Romano, who was in good form, scored a spike against his former club to take the set 19-25 and Piacenza won 1-3 against Milan.
MVP: OP Yuri Romano (19 points (1 serve, 2 blocks), attack success rate 621 TP 3T)
Ishikawa scored 15 points (1 on serve and 1 on block), with an attack success rate of 451 TP3T and a serve receive success rate of 301 TP3T.
Milano now sits in 8th place with a record of 9 wins, 10 losses and 26 points.
The next match will be against third-placed Trento at home on Sunday, February 19th at 8:30pm local time (4:30am the next day Japan time).
The report for the first half is here:
Thoughts on the match etc.
This was a crucial match for both Milan and Piacenza as both are looking to qualify for the playoffs, or more specifically, finish seventh or higher to avoid a quarter-final encounter with already-top-placed Perugia.
Milan's captain, MB Piano, was benched due to influenza (which may have been why coach Piazza was wearing a mask), and Ishikawa took his place wearing the captain's armband for the match.
I think he was the first player to wear the captain's armband for Italy.
He has also announced a two-season contract renewal with Milan, and there are rumors that he may be captain next season, but I never thought we would see him wearing the captain's armband so soon.
Meanwhile, Picenza's OH Lucarelli, who had been absent due to injury, returned to the team, making it their first match in a long time with all of their members present.
Milan's OP Patri was in good form following last week's match against Padua, but Ishikawa's spike was blocked five times and he also struggled with serve reception.
Rosell, who had been making his presence felt in the last few games, was unable to perform as well as he had in the past...
However, Porro's serve in the third set was amazing (I wondered how long it would last even more than OP Romano's serve before that (lol)), and OH Ebadipoul, who came on midway through the set, also performed well.
Ebadipoul is a good player after all.
Ishikawa and Melgarejo have been in the starting lineup a lot recently, but it's really reassuring to have such a reliable player on the bench.
However, it is a shame because of this, as he is a player who could perform well as a starter if he went to another team, so I have mixed feelings about the fact that he starts on the bench every time.
On the other hand, Piacenza's returning OH Lucarelli immediately made his presence felt, demonstrating his abilities not only in offense but also in defence, bringing a sense of stability to the Piacenza court.
Romano, who was a reserve player at Milan until last season, was in top form in this match, spiking like crazy and showing his serve with consecutive breaks in the second set.
There are also rumors that Milan are trying to sign Romano again next season, so it will be interesting to see what happens.
However, Simon, who had previously scored more than 20 goals despite being a mid-range player, was not able to make his presence felt in this game.
I think Milano was able to control that with their serve and blocks.
Nevertheless, Piacenza's S. Brizard spread out the sets well and used his spikers in a balanced manner, and each spiker responded to that, with the success rate of the three on the wings in particular being high.
Milan has struggled to win in the second half against teams they lost to in the first half, Cisterna, Verona, Perugia, and Piacenza.
Is there really such a thing as compatibility?
Either way, I don't want to face these teams in the upcoming playoffs.
Our next opponent is Trento, who we beat 3-1 in the first half of the game, but they have been improving recently, having played a full set against Perugia, so they are an opponent we cannot let our guard down against.
They are also set to face each other in the Coppa Italia semi-finals at the end of this month, so it will undoubtedly be a very important match for both teams.
In the match against Trent, the key to victory will be how well we can suppress the opponent's OP Kaziski, so I'm looking forward to seeing Ishikawa, who will be matched up against us, do a good job of blocking.
Photo: PowervolleyMilano
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