In the sixth round of the second half of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Catania on Saturday, February 3rd (local time) and won 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-17). Ishikawa Yuki started the game and scored 9 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Regels (Belgium)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Catania
OH: Massari (Italy), Randazzo (Italy)
MB: Tondo (Italy), Masurovic (Serbia)
OP: Bucchegger (Austria)
S: Orduna (Argentina)
L: Cavaccini (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Milano took the lead 5-4 early on with OP Reger's spikes. From there, Catania made consecutive breaks with consecutive blocks from OH Randazzo to turn the game around to 6-10, and continued to score with OP Bucegger's spikes and service aces to maintain a 16-20 lead. However, Catania made a series of attack mistakes from OH Melgarejo's serve, and Milan tied the score at 20-20. From there, it was a battle for side-outs, and Catania took the first set point at 23-24 with an OP Bucegger spike, but then Milano made it 24-24 with an OH Melgarejo spike, and then MB Vitelli made consecutive blocks to take the set 26-24.
In the second set, Catania started off with a spike from OP Bucchegger and a block from MB Tondo, leading 0-4. However, Milan broke the score with a service ace from MB Rosell and a spike from OP Regels, tying the score at 11-11. Milan then made a comeback with a 15-14 lead after a Catania mistake, and in the final stages, S. Pollo scored two consecutive service aces to extend their lead to 22-18. Finally, a block from MB Rosell gave Milan a 25-19 victory.
In the third set, Milano took a 6-3 lead after breaking with a block from MB Rosell. After that, Catania tied the score at 6-6 with consecutive service aces from OH Randazzo, but Milano again widened the gap to 12-8 with a spike and a block from MB Vitelli. Then, in the final stages, Milano pulled further ahead with a spike and aces from OH Melgarejo to pull away from Catania at 23-15, and finally, Milano won the set with a pipe attack from OH Melgarejo at 25-17.
As a result, Milan won against Catania 3-0.
MVP: L. Damiano Catania, serve reception success rate 63%
OH Yuki Ishikawa 9 points Attack efficiency rate 31.571 TP3T
Milan now has a record of 9 wins, 8 losses and 29 points, maintaining their 5th place position.
The next match will be against Padova on Sunday, February 11th at 26:00 Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
With Kaziyski and Captain Piano absent due to injury, Ishikawa took on the challenge wearing the captain's armband.
Since we were playing against last-placed Catania, we thought we would win by a landslide, just like in our last match against Trentino, but it was a tough match in which we allowed our opponent to take the lead until the end of the first set.
Although he struggled with Catania's block, he managed to take the set with a reversal thanks to Melgarejo's serve and Vitelli's block in the final stages. The second set was also close until the middle stage, but he ended up winning both the second and third sets with a point difference.
Acting captain Ishikawa was not in great form, receiving three blocks, and the visitors on tour from Japan may not have been able to see a satisfying performance, but the other players were on full display today.
In particular, I think that Melgarejo and Vitelli, who replaced the two injured players mentioned above, were very present. It's not good to have injured players, but one of Milan's strengths is that they can maintain a certain level of quality even if they are injured.
Catania, who won the MVP, not only received the serve but also digged 10 times, far outnumbering both teams, turning Milan's pinch into an opportunity. However, it's a bit confusing that the name is the same as the opposing team's (lol). By the way, Catania is where Catania is from (lol).
According to reports, Kaziyski and Piano are injured and it will probably last about a month, so I think we will have to fight without them for the whole of February.
There should be no problem advancing to the playoffs, but if they finish fourth or higher in the regular season, the number of home games in the playoffs will increase, and Ishikawa himself has previously said that he would like to aim for this.
So the key will be how we win this month at Monza and Verona without Kaziyski and Piano.
Hopefully he can make it in time for the final regular season game against Perugia in early March.
But the most important thing is to prevent any more injuries from occurring.
Photo: volleyball.it
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