In the fourth round of the Italian men's volleyball league Serie A, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Modena away on Sunday, October 23rd local time and won 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 16-14).
Yuki Ishikawa started on the bench for this game as well, but came on as a receiver and contributed to the victory.
Starting lineup for the first set
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ebadipour (Iran)
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Patry (France)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Pesaresi (Italy)
Modena
OH: Engapé (France), Rinaldi (Italy)
MB: Click (Germany), Bossi (Italy)
OP: Lagumzia (Türkiye)
S: Bruno (Brazil/Italy)
L: Rossini (Italy)
Match Report
Milan's starting lineup on this day was the same as the previous week's match against Siena.
The first set was a back-and-forth side-out battle until the middle of the game.
While Modena was scoring points mainly through OP La Musia, Milan was also fighting back with OP Patri, with neither team giving an inch.
Milan then took a 18-14 lead with four consecutive points, including an ace, from MB Rosell's serve, and then with an attack from OH Melgarejo and other points, they went on to take the set, leading by five points at 21-16 in the final minutes.
However, with an ace from La Musia and a block from Bruno, Modena managed to catch up at the last minute, 23-23.
Milan brought in Ishikawa to try to stabilize their serve reception, but in the end, Bruno's aggressive serve gave La Musia a chance to score, and he scored, giving Modena the lead at 24-26.
The second set continued to be closely fought in the early stages, but Milano extended their lead to 14-9 after winning consecutive breaks on serves from OH Ebadipoule and Rosell.
Modena also closed the gap to two points at 20-18 thanks to a spike from substitute OH Marechal (France) and a block from Engapé, but they were unable to get any closer.
Then, towards the end of the match, Milan broke Patri's serve again, and finally, with an attack from Ebadipoul, Milan took the second set 25-21.
In the third set, Modena extended their lead to 5-9 early on thanks to blocks from MB Bossi.
After that, Milan looked for opportunities, taking side outs with spikes from Ebadipour and Melgarejo, but Modena also scored well with spikes from La Musia and MB Klik, preventing the score gap from getting any closer.
The game continued like this until the end, with Modena's OH Rinaldi scoring an ace, followed immediately by Milano and Patrix scoring aces, but that was the end of their counterattack, and Modena took the set back, 21-25.
The fourth set was again a close match, with no score separated by more than three points until the middle of the set.
Modena was the first to break away.
Shortly after Milan brought Ishikawa onto the court, Modena's La Musia unleashed three consecutive aces to take a 16-20 lead and all but seal the set.
However, Milan did not give up.
After that, MB Piano blocked Lagumuzia from MB Vitelli's serve, and OP Patri blocked Ngape, resulting in four consecutive breaks to turn the game around to 22-21.
An ace from Patry put the team two points ahead, and then another spike from Patry made it 25-23, giving them a comeback win and sending the game into the final set.
The fifth set was also competitive.
Modena had the most break chances, but each of the three players on the wings made spike errors and they struggled to seize the chances.
And it was Milan who came out on top.
Patri ran to the edge of the stands to pass the ball to Melgarejo, who scored a goal, and then Patri himself scored with a spike and a serve to put the team ahead by four points, 14-10, and reaching match point.
However, from this point on, Patry made a spike mistake and Ebadipoul's spike was blocked, allowing the score to be caught up at 14-14.
The one to save the team from this predicament was MB Vitelli, who had been substituted in just before the incident.
Libero Pesaresi spiked the ball after some desperate efforts to make it 15-14, and then served an ace to make it 16-14, leading Milan to victory.
The MVP of the game was Milan's opposite Patri (2nd time), who scored 21 points.
As a result, Milan is in 5th place (as of October 28th) with a total of 3 wins, 1 loss and 7 points.
Milan's next match will be against Verona at home on Sunday, October 30th at 18:00 local time (2:00 Japan time).
Thoughts etc.
Ishikawa was not in the starting lineup for this match either, but unlike the Siena match, he was glad to have had the chance to play.
This is probably a sign that his condition is improving, and we hope to see him return to the starting lineup for the next match against Verona.
This match was exciting and fun to watch as the teams came back from four or five points down in the final stages of the first and fourth sets.
Especially when we were catching up in the fourth set, I was shouting in my head, "Woohooooo!" (laughs).
Vitelli served during Milan's consecutive breaks in the fourth set and the final two points of the fifth.
Patry was probably the MVP of the entire game, but he was definitely the hidden MVP of this game.
However, although Vitelli started the first three sets, he came on as a substitute in the fourth and fifth sets.
Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this was not only Vitelli's achievement, but also a victory for coach Piazza's tactics.
I think Milan's strength will continue to be that they have three players who can start on the outside and in the middle.
On the other hand, I'm a bit worried about Modena.
For better or worse, he was relying too much on Lagunzia and looked like he was struggling.
It would be nice if Rinaldi could have a stronger presence on the offensive side of things, but he's still not very consistent.
If things continue like this, it seems like there is a cloud over our chances of making it to the playoffs, let alone the top four.
Good luck Rinaldi! He's a good-looking guy! (I'll say it again)
Milan's next opponent, Verona, is a dynamic team with three young players on the wings!
But the next match is going to be interesting too!
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A, Powervolley Milano
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