In the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia in the Italian men's volleyball tournament, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Piacenza on Wednesday, January 3rd (local time) and won 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 22-25, 22-20). Ishikawa Yuki started the game and contributed to the victory with a team-high 19 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Kaziyski (Bulgaria), Ishikawa
MB: Rosell (Argentina), piano (Italy)
OP: Regels (Belgium)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Piacenza
OH: Retina (Italy), Lucarelli (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
Match Report
In the first set, MB Simon's block put Piacenza ahead 1-3, and OH Retina's spikes widened the gap to 4-8. However, Milano managed to grab five consecutive breaks with MB Rosell's block and two service aces from OH Ishikawa, turning the game around to 12-10. After that, OH Kaziski's spikes widened the gap to 18-13, and in the final stages, S Pollo's service aces and other successive breaks led to 3-4 and 24-15, giving them a large lead to set point. Finally, OH Ishikawa's spike was successful, giving Milano the set 25-16.
In the second set, MB Rosell, OP Regels, and MB Piano scored block points early on, giving Milan a 7-2 lead. OP Regels' service ace further widened the gap to 9-3. However, immediately afterwards, MB Caneschi's serve was blocked by MB Simon and Milan's attack mistake allowed Piacenza to break five times in a row and tie the score at 9-9. Then, with a spike from OP Gironi (Italy) and a service ace from S Brizard, who entered the match as a substitute, Piacenza turned the game around to 10-13. After that, Piacenza continued to score points, mainly from OP Gironi's spikes, and maintained a 15-19 lead. Then, in the final stages, S Brizard scored a service ace to make it 18-23, and finally MB Simon scored a spike to take the set 20-25.
In the third set, Piacenza took a 1-4 lead early on with a service ace from S. Brizard. However, Milan tied the score at 8-8 with a spike from OH Ishikawa and a service ace from S. Porro, and then managed to turn the game around with a spike from OH Kaziski and other efforts to make it 13-11. Milan continued to score with spikes from OP Regels and OH Ishikawa, widening their lead to 19-14. In the final stages, Piacenza narrowed the gap to 23-21 with a spike from OH Lucarelli and a service ace from MB Simon, but in the end, MB Piano stopped OH Lucarelli with a block and Milan took the set 25-21.
In the fourth set, Milano extended their lead to 6-3 with three consecutive breaks from OH Kaziski's spike and OP Regels' block. After that, Piacenza tied the score at 9-9 with a service ace from OP Gironi and a spike from OH Lucarelli, and the game became close from there. Piacenza took the lead at 13-14 with a spike and block from OH Recine, and Milano also broke with a spike from OP Regels to regain the lead at 15-14. However, in the final stages, Piacenza took the lead at 18-21 with a block from OH Recine and a service ace from OH Lucarelli, and finally OH Lucarelli's spike scored to take the set 22-25.
In the fifth set, both players broke the ball early on, but the game continued to be close, with the score at 6-6. From there, Milano took a two-point lead for the first time in the set with a direct spike from S. Porro and a spike from OH Ishikawa, making it 9-7, but immediately afterwards, Piacenza took the lead with a service ace from S. Brizard and a block from MB Simon, making it 9-10. Milano then took a two-point lead again with a spike from MB Rosell and a return error from Piacenza, making it 13-11, and then with a spike from MB Rosell, they were first to reach match point at 14-12. However, OH Retine scored consecutive spikes at the last minute, tying the score at 14-14, and the match went to deuce. Then, OH Kaziski was caught by a block from OH Retine, making it 14-15, and Piacenza was back to match point. After that, Milan took side-outs with spikes from OH Kaziski and OH Ishikawa, but Piacenza also took side-outs with spikes from OH Lucarelli and MB Simon, and Milan did not break, advancing to 20-20. However, MB Roselle's good serve led to MB Piano stopping OH Retina to turn the game around to 21-20, and finally OH Kaziski made a block to win the set 22-20 for Milan.
As a result, Milan won against Piacenza 3-2.
MVP: S Paolo Porro 5 points (4 on serve) Team attack effectiveness rate 33.87%
OH Yuki Ishikawa 19 points (2 serves, 2 blocks) Attack effectiveness rate 38.24%
Milan have now qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the third consecutive year, facing the winner of the match between Perugia and Modena on Thursday, January 4th local time.
The Coppa Italia semi-finals and final will be held in Bologna on Saturday, January 27th and Sunday, January 28th local time.
The next league match will be against Piacenza on Sunday, January 7th at 2:00am Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Comments from Yuki Ishikawa after the match
It wasn't easy, but I was only one or two points away from winning, so I'm glad I won. (At deuce in the fifth set) I thought I had no choice but to endure, and if I could break and get one point, I would have had a chance, so I'm glad I was able to break Agustin's (Rosell) serve with two blocks and finish on a good note. Last year, I was close to losing in the Final Four, so I want to win there first and advance to the final.
Photo: Author, volleyball.it
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