In the 7th round of the second half of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Padova on Sunday, February 11th (local time) and lost 2-3 (23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 16-18). Ishikawa Yuki started and scored 20 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Dirlic (Croatia)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Padua
OH: Gardini (Italy), Porro (Italy)
MB: Prak (Netherlands), Crossart (Italy)
OP: Garcia (Puerto Rico)
S: Falaschi (Italy)
L: Zenger (Germany)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Milano took a 5-1 lead with consecutive breaks from OH Ishikawa's service ace and MB Rosell's block. After that, Milano maintained a 14-9 lead with points from OH Melgarejo's service ace and MB Vitelli's spike. However, Padova took three consecutive breaks from OH Gardini's spike to close the gap to 16-15, and then MB Plac's block and other efforts led to a 17-18 comeback. From there, Padova maintained their lead with a side out from OP Garcia's spike, and finally Padova took the set with a 23-25 spike from MB Crossart.
In the second set, Milano took the lead 2-0 with an OP Dilich spike. From there, Padova tied the score at 9-9 with a block from MB Prak, and then Padova took the lead with four consecutive breaks with an ace from MB Prak and a block from OP Garcia to take the lead 10-14. However, Milano took the lead again with an OP Dilich spike and an ace from S Porro to take the lead 18-17, and in the final stages, OH Ishikawa also got an ace to widen the gap to 22-18. After that, Padova closed the gap to 23-22 with an OH Porro spike, but in the end, Padova touched the net and Milano took the set 25-22.
In the third set, Padua took the lead 3-4 with an ace from OH Porro, and then 6-9 with a spike from OH Porro. Padua continued to lead 13-16 with spikes and aces from OH Gardini, but Milan tied the score at 18-18 with a block from MB Vitelli. However, Padua took the lead again with an ace from OH Porro at 18-20, and finally Padua won the set 22-25 with two consecutive aces from OH Gardini.
In the fourth set, Padua led 3-6 with OP Garcia's spike and OH Porro's service ace at the beginning. However, Milano scored consecutive points with MB Rosell's service ace and succeeded in turning the game around to 13-11, and from there, they continued to score side-outs mainly with OP Dilic's spike. In the final stages, Milano extended the lead to 20-16 with a break with OP Dilic's block, and finally, Milano won the set 25-21 with a Padua serve error.
In the fifth set, Milano took the first point due to Padova's serve error, but Padova took the lead at 5-7 with OP Garcia and OH Gardini's spikes. After that, Milano tied the score at 7-7 with OH Ishikawa's spike and Padova's mistake, and then OP Garcia's attack mistake put Milano in the lead at 11-10. Padova also made consecutive spikes with OP Garcia to make it 12-13, but Milano made a break with OH Ishikawa's spike to make it 14-13 and reach match point first. From there, it went into deuce, and OH Ishikawa and OH Gardini exchanged shots to advance to 16-15. However, OH Porro made consecutive spikes from here, and Padova turned the game around to make it 16-17 and had a match point, and finally OP Garcia shut out OH Ishikawa with a block. Padova won the set at 16-18.
As a result, Milan lost 2-3 to Padua.
MVP: OH Luca Porro 16 points (3 on serve) Attack efficiency rate 30.761 TP3T
OH Yuki Ishikawa 20 points (3 serves, 1 block) Attack effectiveness rate 39.28%
L Wataru Taniguchi, Substitute
Milan's overall record now reads 9 wins, 9 losses and 30 points, dropping them one place to 6th place.
The next match will be against Monza, where Takahashi Ai plays, at 28:00 on Wednesday, February 14th (Japan time).
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
What happened Milan?
Even though Kaziyski didn't have a piano, it was unbelievable that he would lose to Padua.
It seems that it was the first time in five seasons that Padua beat Milan. What's more, the irony is that Yuki Ishikawa was playing for Padua five seasons ago.
Anyway, Padua was aggressive with their serves. Gardini and Prak were powerful, while Porro (younger brother) was aggressive with short serves.
Milan's receivers all lost service aces, but it was especially painful for libero Catania to concede four points.
On the other hand, Milano was not able to hit the opponent with more serves than they could. Gardini lost five points in serve reception, but he managed to hold on at key moments.
Milan put Regels in the OH midway through the second set and was able to take the set, but I personally think it was a waste to go back to Melgarejo in the third set. Melgarejo wasn't that good that day.
However, I understand that with Kaziyski injured and no OH backup, it must be a great relief to have Regels, who can play both OP and OH, on the bench. Still, I think OH Regels would have been better off as it was.
Ishikawa was the team's highest scorer and did a great job, but his form wasn't that good either. He was blocked on match point. I can imagine that this loss to an opponent he should have beaten must have been very frustrating for Ishikawa.
Padua's Gardini was amazing, but I was also amazed by the performance of Porro (the younger brother), who won the MVP.
His serve receive was stable, he served three times short, and his spikes were also very skillful, including the way he blocked out the ball.
Looking at the stats again, we had four blocked attempts and the effectiveness of our attacks wasn't that high, but I think it was a game in which our scoring ability at key moments really shone through and made that less noticeable.
In the first leg, Milan's setter, Pollo (older brother), had three service aces, while Padua's Pollo (younger brother) came on as a substitute and had one service ace, but on this day the results were completely reversed. The younger brother won.
But in terms of appearance, the younger brother looks more like the older brother (laughs).
And then the Japanese showdown.
So far this season, three Italian league teams with Japanese players have faced off against each other several times, but never once have Japanese players been on both courts at the same time.
However, on this day, that moment finally came in the first set.
Wataru Taniguchi, a junior of Yuki Ishikawa at Chuo University, entered the court as a relief server and receiver towards the end of the first set.
Unfortunately, his serve hit the net, but he contributed to the team with his defense and passing in the three subsequent rotations.
During that time, Ishikawa had a chance to serve, but it went out of Taniguchi's range and into the hands of the libero next to him, Zenger (what a shame!).
Although Taniguchi never touched a ball from Ishikawa after that, it was still good to finally see a Japanese showdown on the court!
The next match between Milan and Monza will also be difficult to take place as Takahashi has not yet fully recovered from his injury.
However, it seems like he's recovering faster than expected, so the possibility is not zero!!
Photo: volleyball.it
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