On Sunday, March 2nd local time, the final match of the regular season for the Italian men's Serie A volleyball team was held. Until now, matches in the same round have been played at different times, but in order to avoid intentional manipulation of the rankings, all six matches in the final round were played simultaneously from 6:00 p.m. on the 2nd.
Perugia, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Piacenza away and won 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 25-27, 25-14). Perugia overwhelmed Piacenza with a total of 14 service aces. OH Plotnicki in particular contributed to the victory with 18 points, the most for both teams, including 5 service aces, and was awarded MVP, and OH Semeniuk also scored 16 points. Piacenza also played well, with OP Romano scoring 16 points, and they tried to take back the third set at the last minute, but they ran out of steam.
OH Ishikawa was used only at the end of the third set, but did not score. Although Perugia won, they lost one set and were overtaken by Trento in set rate, finishing the regular season in second place.
Milan, where Tatsunori Otsuka plays, played against Modena at home and lost 0-3 (22-25, 23-25, 23-25).
Modena's MVP OH Daviskiba (17 points) and OP Ikbaili (14 points) scored a lot of points and contributed to the team's straight victory. Milan showed tenacity by scoring mainly OP Regels (12 points) and OH Gardini (8 points), who came on as a substitute from the second set, but Modena beat Milan by a small margin.
OH Otsuka also came on as a substitute in the second set and was in the starting lineup for the third set. He scored three points. As a result, Milan finished the regular season in sixth place.
After the match, a retirement ceremony was held for Milan captain Matteo Piano, who announced his retirement at the end of this season. It was also announced that Piano's number 11 jersey, which he played for eight seasons, would be retired by Milan.
Cisterna, the team Tarumi Yume plays for, played away against Monza and lost 2-3 (27-25, 19-25, 28-26, 24-26, 15-17).
This closely fought match was especially important for Monza, as a loss would see them relegated to the league. While Cisterna attacked with the spikes and powerful serves of OP Fall (24 points) and OH Bayram (20 points), Monza countered with the spikes of OH Roers (16 points), who was also selected as the MVP, and a block led by MB Di Martino (13 points). In addition, young player OP Frascio, who came on as a substitute, was a game changer, scoring 14 points and contributing to the team's survival in the Superlegga.
OH Tarumi was on the court from the middle of the second set until the middle of the fifth set, and showed great performance by scoring 10 points with sharp spikes and serves.
Cisterna came very close to winning against Monza, but made a number of mistakes in attacks at important moments. Perhaps the pressure from the venue to avoid relegating the team was a factor. As a result, Cisterna finished the regular season in 8th place.
The final regular season standings are as follows:
| Ranking | team | point | Win or Lose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torrent | 57 | 20-2 |
| 2 | Perugia (Ishikawa) | 57 | 20-2 |
| 3 | Civitanova | 46 | 14-8 |
| 4 | Verona | 41 | 14-8 |
| 5 | Piacenza | 39 | 13-9 |
| 6 | Milan (Otsuka) | 36 | 12-10 |
| 7 | Modena | 29 | 9-13 |
| 8 | Cisterna (Tarumi) | 24 | 9-13 |
| 9 | Padua | 19 | 6-16 |
| 10 | Grotazzolina | 18 | 5-17 |
| 11 | Monza | 15 | 6-16 |
| 12 | Taranto | 15 | 4-18 |
As a result, the playoff quarter-finals are as follows:
Trento - Cisterna (Tarumi)
VERONA - PIACENZA
Perugia (Ishikawa) - Modena
Civitanova - Milan (Otsuka)
The playoffs will be played in a home and away format with 5 games to 3 wins until the final. Trento and Perugia are the two favorites to win. However, anything can happen in the playoffs, as Monza, who finished 5th in the regular season, advanced to the final last season. From here, each team will step up their enthusiasm and play, so please keep an eye on them.
Photo: legavolley.it
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