In the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Ishikawa Yuki's Milan team played the fifth match of the playoff semi-finals away against Civitanova on Tuesday, April 25th local time, and lost 1-3 (25-27, 22-25, 25-23, 25-27).
Ishikawa Yuki started in this match and scored the most points on the team with 20 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Rosell (Argentina), piano (Italy)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Civitanova
OH: Nikolov (Bulgaria), Yant (Cuba)
MB: Sineniese (France), Anzani (Italy)
OP: Zaitsev (Italy)
S: Dececco (Argentina)
L: Barrasso (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the first set, Civitanova took the lead 3-7 early on with a service ace from Zaitsev and a spike from Nikolov, but Milano quickly made consecutive attack mistakes and turned the game around to 8-7.
However, in the middle of the game, Civitanova took the lead again at 13-16 thanks to a block from Yount and a spike from Sinenieze, and they maintained the lead with another spike from Yount and went into the final minutes with a score of 21-23.
Milano also scored a break with an attack from Ishikawa to tie the score at 23-23 and bring the game to deuce, but in the end Nikolov's block was successful and Civitanova took the set 25-27.
In the second set, Milano scored side outs with spikes from Patri and Rosell, but they made many serve errors and were unable to get a break chance, and the match continued with the score tied at 9-9.
However, Civitanova broke through with a spike from Yount and took a 9-12 lead, and then a spike from Zaitsev extended the lead to 12-16.
In the final minutes, Milano scored consecutive points with Ishikawa's spike and a service ace, closing the gap to 20-21, but in the end, Sineniese's spike was successful and Civitanova took the set 22-25.
In the early stages of the third set, both teams scored points mainly with mid-range shots by players such as Rosell and Sinenieze, and the set was tied at 8-8.
After that, Milano succeeded in three consecutive breaks with Patri's spikes and serves, and took a sudden lead of 12-8.
Civitanova also scored a break with blocks from Anzani and Zaitsev, closing the gap to just one point at 15-14.
However, from there, Milan, led by spikes from Ishikawa and Melgarejo, steadily got side outs and did not allow their opponents to break, and finally Zaitsev's serve went in error, giving Milan the set back 25-23.
In the fourth set, Civitanova took a 1-4 lead early on with spikes from Yount, and then two consecutive aces from Yount put them ahead 5-10.
Milan also broke the lead with a service ace from Rosell and a spike from Melgarejo, closing the gap to 2 points at 14-16, but consecutive spikes from Zaitsev widened the gap again to 15-19.
However, Milano then got a block from Ishikawa, a service ace from Porro, and then a spike from Ishikawa off Porro's serve, and they tied the score at 21-21 in the final minutes.
After that, the match went into a deuce with both players fighting for the side out, but in the end Nikolov's serve landed all the way on the end line, and Civitanova took the set 25-27.
As a result, Milan lost 1-3 to Civitanova.
MVP: OH Aleksandar Nikolov (21 points (2 serves, 1 block), 45% attack success rate, 33% serve reception success rate)
Ishikawa Yuki led the team with 20 points (1 serve and 2 blocks), an attack success rate of 53%, and a serve receive success rate of 67%).
With this, Milan's overall semifinal record is now 2 wins and 3 losses, they have been eliminated from the semifinals and will advance to the third place match.
The first leg of the third place playoff match will be held away in Piacenza on Saturday, April 29th at 8:30pm local time (3:30am Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
Milan loses...
Civitanova, riding on the momentum of their comeback win in Game 4 and the cheers of the packed home arena, got off to a good start in the first set, while Milan struggled to get into their groove and the match was full of difficult periods overall.
Despite all that, our Ishikawa Dai sensei and Rosell maintained their good form throughout the match, and it would have been impossible for them to take the third set, let alone the nearly comeback they had hoped for in the fourth set, when they were down 15-19.
Ishikawa is extremely stable on both offense and defense.
On this day, he scored goals at crucial moments.
If I were to be greedy, I would have liked to see a few more hits on the serves, but I think he did a good job supporting the team.
Despite using a mid-range spike, Rosell scored 12 points with an attack success rate of 71%.
On serve, he created several break points in the fourth set.
To be honest, in the early stages of the fourth set, I was trailing by five points at 5-10 and had pretty much accepted defeat, and when the score was 15-19 and we were just about to get into the 20s, we were still four points behind and I honestly thought, "It's over."
However, the way they managed to catch up to 21-21 was an unexpected and exciting development, and I was absolutely on the edge of my seat when they continued to get side outs after that.
That's why I really regret that mistake with Piano's spike at 23-23.
From the free ball, any of the four spikers could have gone, and while Civitanova had to decide between Ishikawa and Melgarejo, Milan's setter Polo chose the piano.
Up until that point, Piano's attack success rate had exceeded 701 TP3T, and in fact, not a single opposing blocker had responded to this attack, so it was undoubtedly the best choice, but it ended up being a clear out mistake, as if the ball had been high-balled.
I think Piano probably put too much force into it and her hand didn't make contact with the ball, but it was a real shame because that was a moment where we definitely needed to score a point, both in terms of the situation and the score.
If we had scored a goal there, I don't know what the game would have turned out like.
But the thing I'm most disappointed about is the piano itself.
The next third place match is only four days away on the 29th (local time), so there isn't much time left, so I hope they can somehow change their mindset.
I believe that with the piano, the drag won't be there.
As for the much-anticipated Patrie, his performance in terms of numbers was not bad, including a service ace, but he often spiked the ball in a slightly over-the-top position, especially in the early stages of the match, which raised concerns about his physical condition.
We also hope that Ebadipoour, who has been absent since the fourth match due to injury, will recover quickly.
Piacenza, who will play in the third place match, is a team with strong jump serves, so his skills will surely be needed.
However, this marks the sixth consecutive season in which Roubaix has advanced to the finals, excluding the season that was canceled due to COVID-19.
This season in particular, the team has lost its mainstay, Juan Torena, and is now centered around younger players, and at the beginning of the season they lost to Padova, making it seem as if they might not even make it to the top four, but before we knew it, they had become a strong team as usual.
Although there are always some twists and turns along the way in Roubaix, they always make it to the finals, so I'm always amazed at how strong they are in the playoffs, and how well they are able to peak at that level.
I wonder if this is also the skill of Coach Brengeni (although the players don't listen to what he says during timeouts (lol)).
Now, Milan.
They almost got a ticket to the finals last time.
This time, I wasn't even able to grab it and was defeated.
But Milan's journey this season isn't over yet.
If they win the third place match, they will qualify for next season's European Champions League.
Let's continue to support them until the end.
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Series A
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