This was a heated match in the playoffs of the world's top Italian league, with top teams going head to head in a fierce battle.
On Wednesday, April 16th (local time), the third match of the Italian Superlegago PO semi-finals between Perugia (Yuki Ishikawa) and Civitanova was held, and Civitanova won 2-3 (23-25, 25-20, 28-30, 25-22, 14-16) against Perugia, who were just one win away from advancing to the finals. This kept their hopes alive of a comeback and advancing to the finals.
The match took place at Perugia's home ground, the Para-Barton, and was packed with 4,986 spectators, mostly Perugia fans, who had flocked to see the team advance to the final, cheering enthusiastically as they watched the match unfold.
Whenever I come here, I am overwhelmed not only by the number of spectators, but also by the number of supporters who fill the entire end of the court. On this day, the Perugia supporters were cheering on the team with a roar even before the game started. And as always, a lot of silver tape flew in the air (and the players also cleaned it up lol).
Yuki Ishikawa was not in the starting lineup for this game either. Since entering the playoffs, Perugia has been using Semeniuk and Plotnicki as starters for outside hitters.
The first set started with a service ace from Perugia's OP Ventara. OH Nikolov's spikes and blocks put Civitanova ahead at 7-10, but S Gianelli's blocks and OH Semeniuk's service ace turned the game around to 14-11. However, reliever OH Polija scored five breaks, including three consecutive aces, and Civitanova turned the game around again to 17-19. Towards the end, Perugia replaced OH Semeniuk with OH Ishikawa, but he didn't have a chance to shine and returned to the bench. OH Lepki, who came in as a substitute, scored a spike to win 23-25 for Civitanova. Thank you, Polija.
In the second set, Perugia took a large lead of 9-2 with consecutive aces from OP Ventara from the beginning. After that, OP Ventara and OH Semeniuk continued to score points, and OP Ventara's serve again gave them a maximum lead of 8 points at 18-10. From there, Civitanova narrowed the gap with attacks from OH Lepki, but in the end, Perugia took the set back with a 25-20 serve error from OH Lepki.
In the third set, MB Rosell's spikes and service aces gave Perugia a 13-10 lead until the middle of the game. However, S Bonifante and OH Bottolo's aces allowed Civitanova to catch up at 16-16. After that, OH Semeniuk made a brilliant two-back attack, and OH Nikolov, who came in as a relief server, made a no-touch ace, and the match continued with neither team giving an inch. Perugia was the first to hold the set point at 24-23. At this point, OH Ishikawa was brought in as a relief server to try for a break, but OH Bottolo made a spike and brought the game to deuce. From there, Civitanova continued to get side outs with OP Lagunzia's spikes, and OH Semeniuk's attack mistake led to a 26-27 comeback. Finally, Civitanova took the set with 28-30 after OH Semeniuk's attack mistake.
In the fourth set, Perugia replaced OH Semeniuk with OH Ishikawa from the start. However, after missing two consecutive attacks in the early stages, OH Semeniuk was replaced by OH Semeniuk when the score was 5-8. However, Perugia continued to score with quicks from MB Rosell and tied the score at 12-12, and then OH Plotnicki's consecutive aces led to a 17-14 lead. Perugia maintained the lead until the end and took the fifth set with a spike from MB Rosell to make it 25-22.
In the fifth set, MB Sole blocked MB Cineniez's quicks one after another, giving Perugia the lead at 4-2. However, soon after, Civitanova's MB Gargiulo blocked OH Semeniuk to tie the score at 5-5. After that, Civitanova turned the game around with an attack and block from OH Nikolov to take the lead at 8-9, but in the final stages, OH Plotnicki's spike put Perugia in front again at 13-12. Perugia was first to take match point at 14-13 with a block from S Gianelli, but OP Lagunzia made a spike and the game went to deuce. Immediately after that, OP Lagunzia blocked OH Plotnicki to give Civitanova a match point at 14-15, but OP Lagunzia also blocked OH Plotnicki to take the set at 14-16, winning the match 2-3.
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