In the 8th round of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Milan, with Yuki Ishikawa, played against Monza, with Ai Takahashi, on Monday, December 4th local time, with Milan winning 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-18). Yuki Ishikawa did not play due to a back injury, while Ai Takahashi started and scored 7 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Kaziyski (Bulgaria), Mergarejo (Cuba)
MB: Rosell (Argentina), piano (Italy)
OP: Regels (Belgium)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Monza
OH: Ma (Canada), Takahashi
MB: Galassi (Italy), Di Martino (Italy)
OP: Lepki (Canada)
S: Fernando (Brazil)
L: Gaggini (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Monza made a lot of mistakes and Milano led 4-1. From there, Monza closed the gap to 1 point with OH Marr's spikes and others, but Milano broke repeatedly with OH Kaziyski's spikes and serves to widen the gap to 15-10. Milano continued to score consecutive points with OH Kaziyski's blocks and OP Regels' spikes, and had a large set point lead of 24-16. Finally, OH Melgarejo scored a spike to win the set 25-16.
In the second set, Monza scored mainly from OH Repki and Milan scored mainly from MB Piano, and the score was tied at 7-7. Milan then took the lead with OH Kaziyski's spikes and service aces to take the lead to 11-7, but Monza also held on with OH Takahashi's spikes to take the lead to 11-10. However, OH Mar's mistake made it 13-10, and MB Rosell's consecutive blocks made it 20-15 for Milan, widening the gap at once. In the final stages, Milan scored three consecutive breaks, including a service ace, from the serve of S Zonta, who replaced the other two, and took the set 25-18.
In the third set, Milano extended their lead to 8-5 from the beginning with blocks from OH Melgarejo. After that, Monza got close to 14-12 with spikes from OH Marr, but from there, MB Rosell's quicks were successful and Milano made it 16-12, and then OH Melgarejo's spikes and blocks made it 22-14. At the end, Monza's serve was a mistake and Milano took the set with ease, 25-18.
Milan won the match against Monza 3-0.
MVP: MB Agustin Rosell, 11 points (4 blocks), attack efficiency rate 58.33%
Takahashi Ai scored 7 points, with an attack efficiency rate of 0%.
Milano has risen to 6th place provisionally with a total record of 4 wins, 4 losses and 13 points, while Monza has dropped one place to 4th place with 5 wins, 3 losses and 14 points.
Milan will next face off against 10th-placed Verona at 4:30am Japan time on Monday, December 11th, and Monza will face 12th-placed Catania at 12:30am Japan time on Monday, December 11th.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's Tweets
It was a game that I had high hopes for, but it ended up being quite disappointing.
First, Ishikawa couldn't get on the court. He didn't even warm up before the match. The reason is said to be a lingering back pain. He had been hurting during the Paris Olympics qualifiers, and since then he has had almost no rest and has played consecutive matches since the Italian league started, so his condition is probably getting worse again.
On the other hand, Takahashi, whose team announced last week that he would need 8 to 10 days of leg rest, played in the match. This was a surprise, as I thought he might not make it in time for the match.
However, since he had just returned from treatment, his performance was quite far from his usual level. His serve reception was as stable as ever, but his spike effectiveness rate was 0%, the worst this season that I can remember. His digs didn't seem to have improved much either.
Not only Takahashi, but Monza as a whole was not in good shape. Their serve, which is their strength, was not working, and they lost points on attack and made many other mistakes. Monza had not been bad in terms of content even in the games they had lost up to this point, but in this game, on the other hand, they had almost no good points. It seemed that not only Takahashi but the whole team was not in good condition.
Milan, on the other hand, was in top form despite missing Ishikawa. There were concerns about the disruption of serve reception with Kaziyski and Melgarejo on the OH diagonal, but in the end, Monza was not allowed to score a single service ace. They also had a high spike efficiency with almost no losses, and recorded 13 blocks in three sets. They played a safe game from start to finish and won the match.
It couldn't be helped that Ishikawa couldn't take to the court, but the match was also one-sided, which was disappointing for someone who was looking forward to it. However, it's a long and hard season, so there may not be many matches where both teams are in top form.
Nevertheless, at the Japan national team showdown at Milan's home ground in February, I am looking forward to seeing not only Ishikawa and Takahashi, but also the two teams Milan and Monza go head-to-head against each other.
Anyway, everyone please rest well while you can and stay in good condition!!!
Photo: Verovolley, legavolley.it
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