In the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia men's volleyball tournament in Italy, Ishikawa Yuki's Milan team faced Piacenza on Wednesday, January 3rd (local time) and won 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 22-25, 22-20).
Matej Kaziski's post-match comments
-What are your thoughts looking back on the match?
Kaziski: It was a great match. It was a big fight from start to finish. We had a chance to take the lead in the second set, but Piacenza played very well and overturned the lead. From there, the match became very complicated. There was a lot of fierce attack and defense until the end. But I'm very happy that we were able to win the match.
-It was a long match with a full set and even the fifth set reaching over 20 points.
KAZYSKI: Yes, it was a long tiebreak. (The fifth set) didn't end at 15 points either. It was amazing. I think this match is a very good indication of the high level of these two teams. I think both teams have grown a lot as a team over the past few weeks, if not a month. We were good rivals for each other.
-What do you want to achieve in the Final Four?
Kaziyski: I don't know. I don't know who we'll be playing against. We were so focused on this match that we didn't think about the next match. We'll wait to see which team will come up, but it doesn't matter who the opponent is. No matter which team comes up, it will be a tough match, so we'll just have to play against them.
-What kind of player is Ishikawa as a teammate?
Ishikawa: He's amazing. Fantastic. He's very professional and unfortunately he had some big problems at the beginning of the season, but I think he's almost 100% now. He's amazing. You can see how well he's playing.
-Do you speak to Ishikawa in Japanese?
Kaziyski: I only know a few words, so sometimes I make him laugh, but unfortunately my Japanese is not that good.
-Thank you very much.
Kaziyski: Thank you!
Photo: Author
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