In the ninth round of the second half of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Verona on Sunday, February 18th (local time) and won 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-16). Ishikawa Yuki started the game and scored 14 points.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Dirlic (Croatia)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Verona
OH: Javoronok (Czech Republic), Mozic (Slovenia)
MB: Dzingel (Austria), Grozdanov (Bulgaria)
OP: Keita (Mari)
S: Spirito (Italy)
L: D'Amico (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
Match Report
In the first set, Verona took a 5-8 lead with spikes and blocks from OP Keita. However, Milan took a 14-12 lead in the middle of the game with a service ace from OH Ishikawa and a pipe attack, and then extended the lead to 20-16 with a block and a service ace from MB Vitelli. Milan took the set with a 25-20 lead with another block from MB Vitelli.
In the second set, Milan made a series of mistakes early on, and Verona took the lead at 2-5. However, Milan tied the score at 6-6 with a service ace from OH Ishikawa, and then Milan turned the game around with a block and a service ace from OH Melgarejo to take the score at 12-10. In the final stages, Verona tied the score at 20-20 with a spike and a service ace from OH Javoronok, but Milan had the first set point at 24-21 with a service ace from OH Ishikawa. Finally, OP Keita's serve was an error, and Milan took the set at 25-23.
In the third set, Milano took a 3-0 lead early on with attacks from S. Pollo and blocks from OH Ishikawa. Milano then extended their lead to 10-3 with a service ace from OH Ishikawa, his fifth of the match, and a block from MB Rosell. From there, Verona narrowed the gap slightly to 18-14 with spikes from OH Mozic and OP Keita. However, in the final stages, Milano had a match point at 24-16 with a service ace from MB Vitelli, and finally OH Ishikawa smashed in the ball that was returned directly from MB Vitelli's serve to make it 25-16, and Milano took the set.
As a result, Milan won against Verona 3-0.
MVP: MB Marco Vitelli 13 points (2 serves, 2 blocks) Attack efficiency rate 90.001 TP3T
OH Ishikawa Yuki 14 points (5 on serve) Attack efficiency rate 21.05%
With this, Milan's overall record is 10 wins, 10 losses and 33 points, maintaining them in 7th place.
The next match will be against Taranto at 1:00am on Sunday, February 25th, Japan time.
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Toshiki's comment
They broke the losing streak! And what's more, they beat Verona, who are close in the standings, 3-0, which was huge!
Ishikawa's five service aces were amazing, but the MVP, Vitelli, played a fantastic game. As a middle blocker, he scored 13 points and had an attack efficiency rate of 901 TP3T, which is beyond reproach.
Although she was inevitably inferior to Captain Piano in terms of blocking ability, her spikes and blocks were still strong, and I think that this was a game in which those strengths were fully displayed.
The other players also did a great job, especially their serves.
I think Verona's style is to make up for their poor serve receiving with the offensive power of Mozic and Keita, but there's really nothing they can do when they're conceding so many service aces.
Verona again raised the ball up and handed it to Keita, but Milan's block repeatedly blocked Keita's spikes, leaving Verona with no option but to play.
Milan was strong.
However, with two games remaining, they are currently in 7th place. Although they have already qualified for the playoffs, it seems quite difficult at this point to finish the regular round in 4th place or higher, which would give them home game advantage.
However, they will want to avoid facing the top two teams in the first match, so I hope they will do their best to finish in 6th place or higher.
The next match against Taranto should be fine, but the final match against Perugia will be crucial.
Photo: volleyball.it
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