In the third match of the third place playoff match of the Italian Men's Volleyball League, Yuki Ishikawa's Milan team faced Trentino on Wednesday, April 24th (local time) and won 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-14).
Ishikawa contributed to the victory with 18 points, the most for both teams, and was selected as MVP.
First set starting lineup
Milan
OH: Melgarejo (Cuba), Ishikawa
MB: Vitelli (Italy), Rosell (Argentina)
OP: Regels (Belgium)
S: Porro (Italy)
L: Catania (Italy)
Trentino
OH: Micheletto (Italy), Magarini (Italy)
MB: Kozamelnik (Slovenia), Podrascanin (Serbia)
OP: Lihiritzki (Luxembourg)
S: Sbertori (Italy)
L: Laurenzano (Italy)
*Positions: OH = outside hitter, MB = middle blocker, OP = opposite, S = setter, L = libero
MVP: OH Ishikawa Yuki
18 points (1 on serve)
Attack effectiveness rate: 57.14%
This brings Milan's overall record in the third-place match to two wins and one loss (best of five, three wins).
The fourth match of the playoff third place match will be held at Milan's home ground at 27:30 on Saturday, April 27th (Japan time).
Italian League Website: https://www.legavolley.it/
Distribution (VBTV, paid): https://www.volleyballworld.tv/home
Post-match interview with Yuki Ishikawa
Toshiki's comment
Milan wins easily!!!
This is our second consecutive win following the second race!
They are now in third place and just one win away from qualifying for next season's European Champions League.
The first and second sets were closely fought and it was unclear who would win until the end.
However, they took consecutive breaks from the serve of setter Pollo in the first set, and from relief server Kaziyski, who had just returned from injury, in the second set to take the lead.
And it was our Ishikawa who scored the set point in both sets.
In the third set, Porro's serve, which had been so strong in the second match, exploded again. Milano took the lead and momentum from the beginning with three consecutive service aces, and continued to push forward, winning by a large margin.
Ishikawa, who was also selected as MVP, put in a nearly flawless performance that day.
He scored the most points of both teams with 18, an attack success rate of 611 TP3T with only one point conceded, and a serve receive success rate of 641 TP3T with no points conceded.Although he made four serve errors, which was a bit high, he did score one ace and a break point.
I think he was the undisputed MVP, both in terms of the numbers and for his outstanding performance in key moments such as set points.
Personally, I found the scene where Ishikawa, who is usually the one doing the fake sets, landed a fake set from Melgarejo to be quite heartwarming.
I also thought the same thing in the second game, but Milan made heavy use of block switches (a tactic in which blockers switch positions to match the opposing attackers), and I thought this worked well.
Basically, they matched up players with good blocking skills such as Melgarejo and Regels with Micheletto, the opposing team's main scorer, and Micheletto's attack numbers actually dropped on this day.
As for serves, they basically targeted Magarini, who was filling in for the injured Ravia, and this also proved very effective.
In fact, this was the first straight loss for Trentino that day. For Trentino, this match once again highlighted the importance of Lavia's absence.
The next match will be at home to Milan, so they will be hoping to decide the outcome there.
I think there will be a division in Milan if the current members remain, so I think the outcome of the match will depend on Ravia.
However, there are rumors that Ishikawa will transfer to Perugia next season.
If that's true, we'll only be able to see Ishikawa at Milan for two more games at most.
Let's savor it.
Photo: Legavolleyball
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