On Sunday, December 29th local time, Milan, where Otsuka Tatsunori plays, will face Civitanova in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals.
In the first set, Milan's OP Regulus and Civitanova's OP Lagunzia scored points, and the game was close until the middle of the match, 16-17. However, OP Lagunzia made a block and attack from OH Bottolo's serve, and Civitanova took the lead at 16-23, and finally took the lead with an ace from relief server OH Polija, 17-25.
In the second set, Milano took a 13-8 lead with OP Regels' attack and MB Kaneschi's service ace from the beginning. Civitanova brought in OH Lepki and OP Dirlic to close the gap to 22-20, but OH Ruati's attack and MB Kaneschi's ace prevented Milano from making a comeback and took the set 25-20.
In the third set, Civitanova took a 4-7 lead with a block from MB Sinenies and a service ace from S Bonifante from the beginning. Milano scored with an attack from OP Regels, but Civitanova did not allow the break by taking side outs with a quick. Even in the final stages, a block from MB Sinenies and an ace from S Bonifante extended the lead to 11-19, and finally a quick from MB Gargiulo, who came in as a substitute, made it 16-25 and Civitanova took the set.
In the fourth set, the match was close at the beginning, but Milano broke the match with aces from MB Schnitzer and took a 13-10 lead. Milano then extended their lead to 19-13 with attacks from OP Regels and other effective serves. Civitanova closed the gap to 20-18 with attacks from OH Lepki, but Milano won the match with consecutive aces from OH Ruati and a service ace from MB Schnitzer at 25-21 in the final stages, forcing a tiebreak.
In the fifth set, the game was again close at the beginning, but Civitanova took a 5-7 lead with a service ace from S Bonifante and a spike from OH Bottolo that hit a difficult high ball. Milano then temporarily caught up at 8-8 due to an opponent's mistake, but OP Regels failed to attack when substitute OP Dilic served, and Civitanova extended their lead again to 9-12. In the end, relief server OH Polija's service ace made the score 11-15, and Civitanova won the close match 2-3 to advance to the Coppa Italia semifinals.
OH Otsuka was mainly a rear guard and came on as a substitute except for the first set. Especially in the fourth set, he replaced OH Kaziski in the early stages and supported the set taking defense. However, in the fifth set, he deflected OH Polija's last serve and allowed the opponent a match point. However, that serve came right between OH Otsuka and OH Ruati, so it was difficult to judge, and I can only say that I applaud OH Polija for hitting that serve.
Still, I think the way they ended the game was very disappointing. But I hope they can overcome this disappointment and do their best in the remaining league games and the Champions League. I'm sure they still have a lot to improve on both offense and defense.
Milan's OP Regers, as well as the two middle players, MB Schnitzer and MB Kaneschi, showed their presence well. Their serves were particularly strong, and I think their contribution to the sets they won was huge.
However, as I have written many times before, Milan's attack was too dependent on OP Regels, which was a problem. He is certainly a great opposite with the potential to become the world's number one, but in this game he hit nearly half of the team's hits by himself, so it's no wonder that they couldn't make a decision in the final stages.
Last season, Otsuka and Ishikawa were the two main players, so the scoring balance was very good. I hope Otsuka will be like that.
On the other hand, the winning Civitanova had a well-balanced attacking team that didn't allow the opponent to focus on one target until the end. I also think that the players who came on as substitutes, including OH Lepki, played very well, which was a big factor in the victory. It felt like the whole team really won the victory for Civitanova.
Also good is S. Bonifante. Not only is he skilled in the set, but he can also score points with his serve, just as well as other Italian setters. He's still only 20 years old. Why is it that Italy keeps producing such strong-serving and good setters like Gianelli, Sbertoli, Porro, and Bonifante? I wish Japan had at least one of them (laughs).
For the past two seasons, Yuki Ishikawa has been the point getter and led Milan to the Coppa Italia Final 4, but this season that record has been interrupted. However, the season is not over yet, it starts again from here.
Milan-Civita Nova
2-3(17-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, 11-15)
Milan
Starting lineup: OH Ruati (11), MB Schnitzer (11), OP Regers (32), OH Kaziski (5), MB Kaneschi (8), S Porro (), L Catania
Substitutes: MB Laritza, S Zonta, OP Ballot (1), MB Piano, OH Otsuka (1)
Civitanova
Starting line-up: OH Bottolo (12), MB Sineniec (10), OP Lagumjia (14), OH Nikolov (6), MB Podrascanin (5), S Bonifante (4), L Balazo
Substitutes: MB Gargiulo (5), OH Lepki (11), S Orduna (1), OH Polija (2), OP Dilić (2).
MVP: OH Mattia Bottolo
12 points (including 1 block), attack efficiency rate 431 TP 3T
OH Tatsunobu Otsuka
1 point, attack efficiency rate 25%
Detailed match stats here:
https://www.legavolley.it/match/38950
Next Round
Italian League
The last 4 sections
January 6th (Mon) 25:00~ vs Monza
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European Champions League
Group Match 5
January 16th (Thursday) 28:30 ~ vs Roeselare (Belgium)
Distribution: EurovolleyTV (https://www.eurovolley.tv/)
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