In the fourth match of the Italian Men's Volleyball League playoff third place match, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Trentino on Saturday, April 27th (local time) and won 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 25-21). Ishikawa contributed to the victory with 28 points, the most on both teams, and was selected as MVP.
As a result, Milan finished third in the league (for the first time in the club's history).
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Regels (Belgium)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Trentino
OH: Micheletto (Italy), Magarini (Italy)
MB: Kozamelnik (Slovenia), Podrascanin (Serbia)
OP: Lihiritzki (Luxembourg)
S: Sbertori (Italy)
L: Laurenzano (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
MVP: OH Ishikawa Yuki
28 points (2 on serve)
Attack effectiveness rate: 59.46%
With this, Milan won the third place match with a total of three wins and one loss, and won third place in the Italian league. They also won the right to participate in next season's European Champions League.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Post-match interview with Yuki Ishikawa
Toshiki's comment
I was able to see a great match live.
Milan's third place and qualification for next season's European Champions League is of course amazing.
But more than that, it felt like this match was Ishikawa Yuki's match, a match for Ishikawa Yuki.
In the first set, Milan's serves were strong throughout the match and they took the lead from the beginning.
In terms of spikes, the three side attackers, Ishikawa, Melgarejo, and Regers, all scored with a high success rate.
Trentino also had some impressive performances from Micheletto, with some spikes and aces, but they were unable to change the flow of the game during the set.
However, early in the second set, Trentino broke Sbertoli's serve.
In stark contrast to the previous game, Milano's spikes and serves were not working well, while Trentino continued to score consistently with high success rates in attacks and blocks, and took the set without any trouble.
The third set began with the set count at 1-1.
This is where the Ishikawa show begins.
In the third set, he scored the first point with a skillful feint, and in the middle of the set, he scored three consecutive points with his own spike, a service ace, and a pipe attack from the back court to extend the lead to 14-11.
For his 19th point, he picked up the ball on the right side of the court, ran at high speed and spiked it from the left, and from the 20th point onwards, 4 out of 5 points were scored with Ishikawa's spikes.
Moreover, the set point came with a back attack from the right field, which is not usually seen, to make the score 25-20.
In this set, Ishikawa performed like a demon, with 14 at-bats, 10 runs scored, and 1 run conceded, for an attack efficiency rate of 641 TP3T.
But this mode isn't over yet.
Early in the fourth set, Rosell scored a block, a spike and a service ace to give Milan a 6-2 lead.
Later, in the middle of the game, a spike from Micheletto tied the score at 14-14, but Milano took the lead again with a goal from Ishikawa Ishikawa at 17-15.
The game continued at 22-20 and Ishikawa's right bag scored 23 points and his pipe attack added 24 points.
And then match point arrived.
Last but not least, of course, is Ishikawa Yuki.
He received a toss from the ball during a rally and smashed it in with a powerful cross spike from the left to score the 25th point, securing third place and a place in the Champions League for his team.
In the end, in the fourth set, they had 11 hits, 9 points, and no losses, for an attack effectiveness rate of 821 TP3T, which were astounding numbers.
Of course, it was setter Pollo who kept tossing the ball to Ishikawa.
However, it felt as though not only he, but the entire team, indeed the entire stadium, were entrusting him with the feelings they had from his five seasons at Milan.
Ishikawa himself more than lived up to that expectation, resulting in a great victory.
It was truly a wonderful and wonderful moment.
After the match, he made his usual harsh comments, saying "I'm not satisfied at all," but I was also personally happy to be able to elicit a natural comment from him with a smile, saying "I was happy that you kept on raising the ball at important moments."
After the match, she shared her joy with the players, staff, and fan club members, and she also courteously responded to each and every fan at the venue until the very end. Even after it was over, she politely posed for photos with the venue staff, and it was impressive to see her remain on the court with a smile on her face until the very end.
I was reminded once again that he was truly a player loved by Milan.
There are various rumors about next season's team, but we will wait for the official announcement, but first let's look at the Japanese national team.
I hope that she will be in top condition for the Olympics. Thank you for your cooperation with our coverage this season.
Photo: Legavolleyball
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