The end of the record comes suddenly.
This Italian women's volleyball club had been undefeated so far this season, and had won 50 consecutive official matches, including since last season, but this season they were finally defeated by Conegliano, which also includes Japanese player Nanami Seki.
The team that defeated the undefeated queens was not Scandicci, who finished second in the Italian league regular season, or Milan, who finished third, but Novara, who finished fourth and is the team that Ishikawa Mayu plays for.
The match was the second leg of the Italian League playoff semi-finals. In the first leg, held at Conegliano's home, Conegliano had defeated Novara 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-13), showing the difference in their strength, so it was expected that the second leg at Novara's home would also be a one-sided match for Conegliano.
In the second game, just like the first, Novara's OH Ishikawa will start, while Conegliano's S Seki will start as a reserve.
In the first set, Conegliano led 3-6 with OP Haak's spikes and blocks. However, Novara took the lead with three consecutive breaks from S Bosio's block and OP Torok's spike, and then widened the gap to 12-8 with MB Bonifacio's block and OH Ishikawa's spike. After that, Conegliano closed the gap to 17-16 with an ace from OP Haak, but Novara broke the lead with a block from S Bosio and a spike from OH Ishikawa after good defense, widening the gap again to 23-17 in the final stages. MB Aleksic stopped OH Gabi with a block, and Novara won the set 25-19.
In the second set, Novara took a 9-6 lead after digging and OH Alsmeyer and others scored spikes. Shortly after, Conegliano took the lead at 9-11 with a spike from OP Haak and a block from OH Ju, but Novara quickly caught up with OP Torok and others at 12-12. After that, Novara took the lead again at 17-14 with a spike and a service ace from OH Ishikawa, and then a block from OP Torok and a mistake from Conegliano put them ahead at 24-19 and reached set point. Finally, OH Ishikawa scored a difficult toss to cross the ball, giving Novara the set at 25-20.
In the third set, Conegliano, who had no other choice, took a 0-4 lead early on with spikes and blocks from OH Ju. After that, OP Hark's spikes and other efforts kept the side outs and the match progressed to 6-10. However, Novara caught up with 12-12 with blocks from MB Bonifacio and consecutive no-touch aces from OP Torok, and then turned the game around to 15-13 with an ace from OH Ishikawa. From there, Novara further extended their lead to 20-15 with MB Bonifacio's spikes from solid defense. In the final stages, Novara's mistakes and OH Ju's attacks brought Conegliano within one point at 24-23. However, in the end, OH Ishikawa again made a perfect pass and a sharp spike into the cross course to take the set 25-23, and Novara won 3-0.
Novara - Conegliano
3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-23)
MVP: OP Trok
As a result, the playoff quarterfinals (best of five, best of three) were tied at one win and one loss. Conegliano also ended his unbeaten streak in official matches, which had continued since April of last year, at 50.
The MVP was OP Torok. He had the most points of both teams with 26 (21 attacks, 3 serves, 2 blocks), and an attack efficiency rate of 311 TP3T. Although he was blocked by Conegliano's blocks for 5 shots, he more than made up for it with his powerful performance, hitting the ball regardless of whether he was in the front or back. His serve was also very powerful, and in the third set, he was particularly impressive with two consecutive no-touch aces that even saw off the Italian libero De Gennaro.
OH Ishikawa also contributed to the victory with 12 points (9 attacks, 2 serves, 1 block), tied for second on the team. Even in pressure situations such as match point, he scored points with sharp spikes that belied his small stature. He also served as an ace, helping the team get on a roll in the second and third sets. He also helped the team on the defensive side many times with blocks and receives.
Not only Ishikawa, but Novara's serve and defense were particularly outstanding in this match. The team served 7 aces, putting constant pressure on Conegliano, and on defense they received many powerful spikes from the opponent, leading to breaks. They were particularly successful in suppressing the success rate of Conegliano's OH Gabi and OH Ju's attacks from the left side, and were able to take the match to their advantage.
Conegliano did not make many mistakes, but he was unable to counter Novara's aggressive serves and solid defense. OP Haak was the only one of the side attackers who had a high success rate in attacks, but that alone was not enough to turn the game around.
S. Seki was also brought on during Novala Ryde's first set, but was unable to change the flow of the match.
This season's men's team Perugia, to which Ishikawa Yuki belongs, was called the "Galactic Group," but to be frank, this season's women's team Conegliano is even more of a "Galactic Group." It can be said that the team is almost a world selection team, including Brazil's Gabi and China's Zhu.
However, Conegliano was undefeated in the regular season last season and then lost for the first time in the playoff semi-finals, so I thought he would lose somewhere in the playoffs this season. However, I don't think anyone could have imagined that he would lose in straight sets. Both of the two games he lost last season were full sets, and I think it had been a really long time since he had lost a game in straight sets.
Novara got a really big win, but they have to repeat it two more times to get to the final. This is probably more difficult than the 2022/23 season when Milan, with Yuki Ishikawa, beat Perugia, who was unbeaten in the regular season, in the quarterfinals. Conegliano will step up from this defeat.
The much-anticipated third quarterfinal match will be broadcast on April 6th (Sun) at 22:20 Japan time. You can watch it on VBTV.
Photo: legavolleyfemminile.it
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