In the 11th match of the second half of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Milan (8th place), which Ishikawa Yuki plays for, played against Taranto (11th place) at home on Sunday, March 12th local time, and won 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-18).
Yuki Ishikawa started in this match and contributed to the victory by scoring 14 points, second highest on the team.
Having completed all of their regular season matches, Milan has secured 8th place and will face off against 1st-placed Perugia in a playoff next week for a place in the semi-finals.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Rosell (Argentina), piano (Italy)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Taranto
OH: Antonov (Italy), Andreopoulos (Greece)
MB: Aletti (Italy), La Rizza (Italy)
OP: Lawani (France)
S: Falaschi (Italy)
L: Rizzo (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
The stats for this match areHere
Match Report
In the early stages of the first set, Taranto succeeded in breaking MB Aletti's serve three times in a row, including an ace of his own and a spike from OP Lawani, to take a 5-8 lead.
In the middle of the game, Milan continued to compete for side outs, with MB Rosell and OH Melgarejo at the helm, while Taranto played with OP Lawani at the helm.
However, MB Rosell blocked OP Lawani, and then OH Ishikawa scored a spike to put Milano back in front at 17-16. Milano then widened the gap to 22-19 with a service ace from OH Ishikawa.
Finally, with a block point from MB Piano, Milano took the set, 25-21.
In the second set, Taranto started off with a spike from OP Lawani to take a 0-3 lead, and then maintained a 5-9 lead with a service ace from OP Lawani and a spike from OH Antonov.
Milan then scored points with a service ace from OH Melgarejo and a spike from MB Rosell to tie the score at 15-15, and the game continued to be a close one from there.
In the final stages, a block by OH Antonov and a mistake by Milano put Taranto at set point at 22-24, but Milano was able to tie the score at 24-24 with the help of some mistakes from their opponent.
In the end, MB Rosell's block and OH Ishikawa's spike were successful, and Milan took the set 26-24.
In the early stages of the third set, Taranto scored points thanks to Milano's mistakes and OP Lawani's spikes, taking a 6-9 lead.
However, Milano tied the score at 9-9 with a block from OH Ishikawa, and then OH Melgarejo scored a direct spike from OH Ishikawa's serve, widening the gap to 13-10 with three consecutive breaks.
Milan continued to break the lead with successive blocks from MB Piano and a service ace from OH Melgarejo, widening the gap to 20-13, and finally won the set 25-18 with a spike from substitute OH Ebadipour (Iran). Milan defeated Taranto 3-0.
MVP: Agustin Rosell (13 points (5 blocks), 89% attack success rate)
Ishikawa Yuki was second on the team with 14 points (2 on serves and 1 block), with an attack success rate of 69% and a serve receive success rate of 57%.
As a result, Milan finished the regular season in 8th place with 10 wins, 12 losses and 30 points, and will face Perugia, who finished first in the regular season, in the playoff quarterfinals.
The next match will be played away on Saturday 18 March at 18:00 local time (2:00 Japan time).
Thoughts on the match etc.
First of all, congratulations to Milan for advancing to the playoffs!!!
We knew this because Cisterna had lost the day before this match, but it was still a relief for us since there was a chance we wouldn't make the playoffs until the final week.
It was also great to see that all the players who were unable to play the previous week due to injury or COVID-19 were able to take to the court.
Ishikawa's movements were sharp, and personally I was happy that Rosell won his first MVP award in the final game of the regular season.
However, as I have said many times, Rosell still has a lot of potential, so I would like Porro to use him more and more aggressively.
He made five blocks, and the blocks he made at crucial moments were particularly impressive. He also made quick plays by intentionally jumping and hitting the ball in a flowing motion, confusing the opposing blockers.
When you watch the replay and see the extent of that movement, it's clear there's no way it can be stopped (laughs).
Not to be outdone by Rosell, captain Matteo also made three blocks.
There were a total of 11 blocks across the three sets, and I thought it was a match where we got to see Milano's best blocking form for the first time in a while.
Of course, best scorer Melgarejo was also reliable!
However, I'm worried about my opposite, Patry.
They scored only five points in three sets, with a success rate of 36% (and only four points conceded), which was poor.
This, combined with the fact that Taranto's young opposite, also from France, was in great form, scoring 16 points, made the loss feel a bit sad.
As I wrote during the Coppa Italia match against Trento, Patri's performance is an absolute necessity for Milan to progress.
Good luck, Patry!!!
Although Milan won 3-0, their rival Monza also won, meaning they advanced in 8th place and faced first-placed Perugia in the first playoff match.
Although they suffered their first loss of the season, losing 0-3 to Piacenza in the Coppa Italia, they remain by far the strongest team in the league, and their situation is extremely tough, as they will need to win three games against these opponents to advance to the playoffs.
Still, what's been decided can't be helped, so I'll just do my best.
Forza Milano!
Forzapatriiiiiiiiii! (lol)
Photo: Lega Pallavolo SerieA
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