In the 9th match of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Ishikawa Yuki's Milan (8th place) played against Trento (3rd place) at home on Sunday, February 19th local time, and lost 2-3 (25-22, 26-24, 23-25, 24-26, 8-15).
Ishikawa Yuki started in this match and scored 18 points, second highest 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)
Torrent
OH: Micheletto (Italy), Lavia (Italy)
MB: De Gea (Belgium), Podrascanin (Serbia)
OP: Kaziski (Bulgaria)
S: Sbertori (Italy)
L: Laurenzano (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, Trent took a 1-3 lead with attacks from three side attackers, and then scored consecutive points with a service ace from MB de Gea and a spike error from Milano to take a large lead of 5-10.
However, Milan narrowed the gap to 13-15 with a block from OH Ishikawa, and then Trento made a series of mistakes to help them turn the game around and lead 21-20 in the final minutes.
Milano continued to score points with a service ace from substitute OH Ebadipour (Iran) and a sharp spike from OH Ishikawa that broke through three blocks, and took the set 25-22.
In the second set, Milano left OH Ebadipoour on the court.
In the early stages, OH Ishikawa and OH Micheletto were trading points, but after that, the game remained closely matched with both teams taking breaks but never getting more than three points apart.
Even in this situation, Trento took a slight lead with spikes from OP Kaziski and other efforts, leading to 16-17, but Milano then succeeded in three consecutive breaks with a service ace from OP Patri and a block from MB Piano (Italy), who came on as a substitute, to extend their lead to 20-17.
After that, with a spike from OH Ishikawa, they put themselves on match point at 24-21, but then with a spike and a block from MB Podrascanin, they scored three consecutive points to tie the score at 24-24.
However, in the end, MB Rosell blocked OH Ishikawa's aggressive serve and Milan took the set 26-24.
The third set was also closely fought from the beginning, with Milano scoring mainly through OP Patri and OH Ishikawa, while Trento scored mainly through OP Kaziski and OH Ravia, leading to a score of 15-15.
Here, Trent scored four consecutive breaks, including two service aces, from OP Kaziski's serve to take a 15-19 lead, and continued to score with spikes from OH Micheletto and other plays to put him in a position to set at 21-24.
Milan also closed the gap to 23-24 with a spike from OH Melgarejo, who came on as a substitute, but in the end, a challenge on a Melgarejo spike that seemed to have been a sure thing was ruled a touch of the net, and Milan took the set back to Trent with a score of 23-25.
In the fourth set, both teams again fought for breaks from the early stages, scoring mainly through their side attackers, resulting in a closely fought match.
In the middle of the match, after a series of mistakes by OH Ishikawa, it looked like Trent had taken the lead at 11-13, but Milan quickly tied the score at 14-14 with a spike from OH Ishikawa, and then with a sharp pipe attack they again broke the score and extended their lead to 21-17 in the final stages.
Milano took the lead with a match point at 24-21 thanks to an attack from OH Ishikawa, but then OH Micheletto's powerful serve attacked the Milano receivers, and Trent made four consecutive breaks with attacks and blocks from OH Lavia, leading to a huge comeback and taking the set back at 24-26.
In the fifth set, Milan scored points mainly through OH Ebadipour and OP Patrie, while Trento scored points mainly through OH Micheletto, and the score remained close at 7-8 until the court change.
But then OP Kaziski's serve exploded, and with six consecutive breaks, including two service aces, Trent reached match point at 7-14. Finally, OH Micheletto's high spike was successful, and Trent took the set 8-15, defeating Milano 2-3.
MVP: OH Alessandro Micheletto (20 points (including 2 blocks), attack success rate 511 TP 3T, serve reception success rate 39%)
Ishikawa Yuki was second on the team with 18 points (including 1 block), with an attack success rate of 401 TPs and 3 Ts, and a serve receive success rate of 31%.
Milan remains in 8th place with a total of 9 wins, 11 losses and 27 points.
Their next match will be against Trento again in the Coppa Italia semi-finals on Saturday, February 25th at 18:00 local time (2:00 Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
The victory that was within our grasp has slipped away again...
In this match, Milan had a three-point lead and had set point, but then they were caught up and tied the score twice.They managed to survive the second set, but were unable to get the crucial final point on match point in the fourth set.
After that, it would have been good if they could have won the fifth set, but they were completely crushed by Emperor Kaziyski's serve and lost in a full set.
Based on the experiences they had in the first half of the season against Verona and Piacenza, and also, going back to Ishikawa's personal experience, the match against France at last year's World Championships, they were very conscious of winning until the end this season, and they started to do so steadily from the middle of the league matches, but now they have hit the same wall again.
We will be facing Trento in the Coppa Italia semi-finals this weekend, and since we had won the first half of the game at Trento's home (and using MB1's unusual formation), we were hoping to win this time as well to get a boost in the Coppa Italia, but we ended up being defeated by the serves of OH Micheletto and OP Kaziyski.
However, apart from the serves at the crucial moments between the two players, the match was pretty evenly matched, and since serves are, in a sense, a fickle thing, it's impossible to know how a match in the Coppa Italia will turn out.
On the other hand, I think that Milan's performance will depend largely on how OP Patriotic turns out.
Patry's attack success rate in this match was 431 TP3T, which was not that high, so if we can increase that to around 501 TP3T and create a situation where Patry can score even against tough serves like this one if he just puts the ball high, I think we will be much closer to victory.
In addition, the side positioning for this match was Ishikawa at number 2, close to the setter, and Ebadipoul at number 5, close to the opposite, but it would be interesting to reverse this for the next match against Trento.
Being the strategist that he is, Coach Piazza is surely thinking up many new things.
That's why I'm really looking forward to the Coppa Italia!!
Of course, I will be covering the Coppa Italia on site!!!
It also appears that more than 5,000 people were in attendance for this match, the largest attendance for a match at Allianz Cloud this season.
The opposing team, Trento, was a popular team full of star players, including the Italian national team, so there were many local fans who came to watch, and since Milan is not that far from Trento, I'm sure there were also many fans who had travelled from there (and there was in fact quite a lot of cheering when Trento scored a point).
Also, Trento's setter, Sbertoli, is also from Milan, so it seemed like one corner of the stands was filled with Sbertoli's supporters (laughs).
When Piacenza came to Milan previously, there was also a large group of Romano supporters from the Milan area.
It's kind of heartwarming to see something like this.
It also seems that the famous Italian singer Marco Mengoni was in attendance at the venue.
But I would have liked to see the Allianz Crowd with 5,000 people in person...
But the Coppa Italia has twice as many clubs, so it's sure to be even more exciting!
Forza Milano!!!
Photo: Lega Pallovolo Serie A
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