Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays in the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, played the first game of the playoff third place match against Piacenza at home on Wednesday, May 3rd local time, and lost 0-3 (24-26, 19-25, 23-25).
Ishikawa Yuki started in this match and scored the most points on the team with 11 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Rosell (Argentina), piano (Italy)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Piacenza
OH: Lucarelli (Brazil), Real (Brazil)
MB: Simon (Cuba), Caneschi (Italy)
OP: Romano (Italy)
S: Brisard (France)
L: Scanfera (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, Porro started off with a service ace, followed by blocks from Rosell and Piano, putting Milano ahead 6-4.
After that, Piacenza tied the score at 9-9 with a service ace from Brizard, but they quickly took the lead again at 13-10 with a service ace from Ishikawa, and then further extended the lead to 18-12 with a service ace from Rosell and a spike from Piano.
However, Milan struggled to score from there, while Piacenza continued to score with Romano's spikes, and managed to turn the game around to 22-23 in the final minutes.
The match went into deuce, but Romano scored a service ace in the end, giving Piacenza the set, 24-26.
In the second set, both players hit service aces and took breaks early on, but the match was close and the score progressed to 11-11.
However, with a service ace from Brizard and other efforts, Piacenza took the lead at 11-13, and then with a block from Simon they further extended their lead to 12-16.
Milan also scored points through spikes from Ishikawa and substitute Lawrence (OP, Puerto Rico), but a series of mistakes allowed the lead to widen to 17-22.
In the end, Real's pipe attack was successful and Piacenza took the set 19-25.
In the third set, Milan broke through with a spike from Rosell and a block from Piano, but Piacenza also got aces from Brizard, Lucarelli and Real early on, and Piacenza took the lead 7-9.
Piacenza continued to score consecutive points with Romano's spikes, Simon's service ace, and Kaneschi's block, widening the lead to 13-19.
However, Milan then scored five consecutive breaks with some good serves from Melgarejo and Ishikawa scoring with spikes and blocks, tying the score at 19-19.
In the final stages, Milano continued to hang on to Piacenza, getting side outs mainly through Ishikawa's spikes to lead the score at 23-23, but in the end Melgarejo's spike was caught by Romano's block, and Piacenza won the set 23-25.
As a result, Milan lost 0-3 to Piacenza.
MVP: OH Yolandi Leal (14 points (1 serve), attack success rate 50%, serve reception success rate 211 TP 3 T)
Ishikawa Yuki led the team with 11 points, with an attack success rate of 43% and a serve receive success rate of 40%.
Milan now has two losses in the third-place match, meaning they will be eliminated if they lose one more match.
The third match of the playoff third place match will be played away from home on Saturday, May 6th at 18:00 local time (1:00 am Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
Milan once again loses in straight sets to Piacenza...
I think the team's condition was better than in the first match, and we actually started very well, but after we had a big lead until the middle of the first set, we were overtaken and were unable to maintain the lead until the end.
Their comeback in the third set was impressive, but unlike Piacenza, who were able to turn the game around after consecutive breaks in the first set, Milan just couldn't get that extra point.
I don't think Milano's serve was bad at all.
They were able to target their serve well against Real, had a fair number of service aces, and kept Piacenza's serve reception success rate low throughout the match at 261 TP and 3 T.
However, they were still unable to slow down the success rate of Piacenza's three side attackers, and they were able to score one after another, even with high balls.
Milan was also under attack from Piacenza's serves, and it was particularly painful for them to lose 11 service aces in just the third set.
Milan's overall attack success rate was low (39%, compared to Piacenza's 52%), and Rosell, who usually has a high success rate not only from the wing but also from the middle, had difficulty scoring with spikes, with only a 33% success rate.
Piacenza's mid-range shots were constantly marking Rosell, and his serve reception was poor, meaning he had few opportunities to spike in good conditions, which I think resulted in such poor numbers.
As for Patry, he was unable to make any successful attacks and was replaced by Lawrence in the middle of the second set...
Lawrence was better than I expected, so I thought we could use him in the third set as well, but Patry came back and he improved somewhat in the third set, but it didn't lead to us taking the set.
As for Ishikawa, the four points he conceded due to serve reception is not a small number, and his attack success rate of 43% is not such a bad number, but considering expectations, it cannot be said that his overall performance was very good.
Porro also scored three points on serve, and did a great job with a dedicated set despite some shaky serve reception, and Piano also did well with spikes and blocks, scoring eight points, second on the team.
However, this was the first time since the playoffs began that they suffered two straight losses in the first game.
Furthermore, it was the first time in the playoffs that they had failed to win a single set at home.
Since entering the playoffs, Milan has not only played a large number of games but also traveled long distances, so there is no doubt that the players are getting quite tired.
Still, I hope he can show some energy in the next match, Round 3!!
Forza Milano!!!
Photo: PowervolleyMilano
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