The second round of the first half of the Italian men's volleyball league, Serie A Super League, has ended. Milan, where Japan national team captain Yuki Ishikawa plays, won the Lombardy Derby against Monza in full sets and won their first match. Meanwhile, Vibo Valentia, where Yutaka Nishida plays, lost 1-3 at home to the powerful Trento, failing to win their opening two games in a row.
Milan had no games in the first round, so they played their first match later than the other teams, against Monza at their home stadium, Allianz Cloud. Monza, who had won their first match against Modena, were on a roll and started scoring from the beginning, while Milan started off a little stiff, probably because it was their first match. However, from the second set onwards, Milan, with the young setter Pollo, a gold medalist at the U21 World Championships, was able to improve their form. Ishikawa Yuki, who started in the team, was targeted by the opponent's powerful serves and had few opportunities to spike in good condition, but he showed his skills by scoring 12 spikes (461 TP3T success rate), 1 serve, and 1 block, for a total of 14 points, contributing to the team's victory. I think his contributions that were not directly reflected in the points were also great. Milan's most points were scored by new player Jeski (USA) with 18 points. The attack success rate was quite high at 65%, but the one who surpassed it in success rate was the MVP of the day, also a new signing, Cineniese (France). It was an astonishing 80%. We would like to continue this momentum and win consecutive games and surpass last season's 6th place. In the next match, we will play away against Piacenza, who are also on a roll. It will be a showdown with a large French population (laughs).
Vibo Valentia, the team Nishida Yutaka belongs to, will play against Trento, one of the "Big 4", at home. This season, Trento is captained by Kaziski, Nishida's ally from his time with JTEKT. This was probably the first time that the two V-League teammates faced each other in the Italian league. As expected, Trento was the better player in the match. Although Nishida showed his determination and took the set in the third set, which was a deuce, Trento played the rest of the sets without any problems. Nevertheless, Nishida made his presence felt again on this day with 20 points, the highest on the team, including four service aces. With seven serve points in two games, he is probably the top number in the league. There is still a lot to look forward to for Vibo! In the next match, they will once again face off against the powerful Modena away from home. Keep an eye on the exchange of shots between Nishida and the opponent, Opposite Nimir!
In addition, the previous champion Civitanova lost to Piacenza in a full set. Piacenza's opposite player Laguszia (Turkey) was explosive. With a total of 35 points and a 65% attack success rate, Piacenza overwhelmed Civitanova and won a valuable victory against the defending champion. Last year's runner-up Perugia also defeated Verona 3-1 to secure their second consecutive opening win.
Piacenza's ace, La Musia
Section 2 Results
Ravenna vs Taranto 0-3
Cisterna vs Padua 1-3
Civitanova vs Piacenza 2-3
Vibo Valentia vs Trento 1-3
Milan vs Monza 3-2
Verona vs Perugia 1-3
Round 3 schedule (local time)
Saturday, October 30th
18:00 Piacenza vs Milan
20:30 Modena vs Vibo Valentia
Sunday, October 31
15:30 Verona vs Cisterna
18:00 Trento vs Civitanova
18:00 Padua vs Ravenna
20:30 Modena vs Taranto
Ranking
6 2-0 6/1 Trento
6 2-0 6/1 Perugia
5 2-0 6/3 Piacenza
4 1-1 5/3 Civitanova
4 1-1 5/4 Monza
3 1-1 4/3 Taranto
3 1-1 4/4 Vibo Valentia (Yuji Nishida)
3 1-1 3/4 Padua
2 1-0 3/2 Milan (Yuki Ishikawa)
0 0-1 1/3 Modena
0 0-2 1/6 Cisterna
0 0-2 1/6 Verona
0 0-2 1/6 Ravenna
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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