On Tuesday, April 29th (local time), the first match of the Italian Superlegga PO third place deciding match between Perugia (Yuki Ishikawa) and Piacenza was held, with Perugia winning 3-1 (37-35, 25-18, 19-25, 25-18). The third place deciding match will be played in a two-win format, and the team that comes in third will be given the right to play in next season's European Champions League.
Yuki Ishikawa started the game on the bench. Piacenza also had several players unable to play due to injuries, so Bovolenta, who is normally an opposite, took to the court as a middle blocker.
In the first set, the match was a close one with both teams scoring points, with Perugia scoring mainly through OP Ventara and Piacenza scoring mainly through OP Romano, leading to a score of 13-13. From there, Perugia took the lead with consecutive blocks from MB Sole to take a 15-13 lead, and then with six consecutive breaks, including two aces, from S Gianelli's serve, they widened the gap to 22-14. However, immediately afterwards, Piacenza scored five consecutive breaks with a block from S Brizard and a service ace from OH Marr to make it 22-20, and then tied the score at 23-23 with a spike from OH Mandilaci. After that, the match went into deuce, with Perugia scoring mainly through OP Ventara and Piacenza scoring mainly through OH Mandilaci, and although both teams scored several breaks, they were unable to make up a two-point lead, and the tense situation continued with the score at 30-30 and 35-35. However, during a rally, Piacenza made a net touch, putting Perugia in the lead at 36-35, and finally OH Semeniuk scored a service ace to give Perugia the set, 37-35.
In the second set, Perugia broke the lead with an ace from OH Plotnicki and a spike from OH Semeniuk, taking a 10-5 lead. Piacenza narrowed the gap to 13-10 with an ace from OH Mandilaci, but Perugia again widened the gap to 19-11 with an ace from OP Ventara and a mistake from Piacenza. Perugia continued to hold the lead and took the set with a 25-18 serve error from Piacenza.
In the third set, Piacenza took the lead 2-4 early on with a block from MB Simon, and continued to score with spikes from OP Romano and OH Mandilaci to maintain a 14-17 lead. From there, Perugia closed the gap to 17-18 with spikes from OH Semeniuk, but Piacenza again widened the gap to 17-22 with a block from MB Simon and a service ace from OH Mandilaci. After that, Perugia brought in OH Ishikawa as a relief server, but they were unable to break through, and in the end, OH Semeniuk was dribbled and Piacenza took the set back 19-25.
In the fourth set, Piacenza made a series of attack mistakes from the beginning, giving Perugia a large lead of 10-4. After that, Perugia continued to score with spikes from OH Plotnicki and OP Ventara, and maintained a lead of 15-8. After that, Piacenza narrowed the gap slightly to 19-16 with a block from OH Marr and a spike from OP Romano. However, a mistake by relief server OH Ishikawa made Piacenza make it 22-17, and then a spike from OH Plotnicki made it 24-18, giving Perugia a match point with a 6-point lead. Finally, an attack from OP Romano made an error, and Perugia won the set 25-18, winning 3-1.
Here are the stats from the match.
https://www.legavolley.it/match/38991
The MVP was veteran MB Sole. He contributed greatly to winning the first set, which was a close match, with 12 points, especially with 4 blocks. He also had a high attack efficiency rate of 50%. The team's highest scorer was OP Ventara with 18 points.
OH Ishikawa played as a one-point server with OP Ventara in the first set, and as a relief server in the third and fourth sets. Although he did not score any points, he contributed to the break in the fourth set with his own serve.
To be honest, there were times when Perugia was not in top form, and it felt like they were still feeling the effects of the semi-final result, but I think they were able to fight with more concentration against Piacenza, who made many attacking and other small mistakes. It was their first victory in four games since the second leg of the semi-final.
However, Piacenza did not have a full team, and they are very dangerous when they make fewer mistakes. They are also a team that is difficult to control when they get their serve on, like Civitanova. In this match, OH Mandiraci's serve was particularly phenomenal. Therefore, Perugia will have to improve their performance and put more pressure on their opponents, especially with their serves.
The second match will be held at 27:30 Japan time on Saturday, May 3rd.
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Photo: legavolley.it
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