On Sunday, October 27th local time, in the fifth match of the first half of the Italian Superlegga, Perugia, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Trento and won 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-19).
Following the previous round, Perugia's regular setter Gianelli started on the bench due to (probably) poor condition, and Zoppellari, who is normally a reserve, tossed the ball instead. Ishikawa also started on the bench that day, but entered the court midway through the first set to replace Semeniuk, who was not in good form.
Thanks to Ishikawa's efforts, the score difference was narrowed, but Trento won the first set. However, from the second set onwards, Perugia gained the advantage in serve and block, winning three sets in a row to win the comeback victory. In the final showdown between last season's Italian League champion and European Champions League champion, Perugia once again emerged victorious, following on from the Supercoppa.
In particular, Plotnitskiy won the MVP award for the second consecutive match with a 21-point attack, 4 service aces, and 3 blocks. His dynamic form and his ready-to-attack attitude are really cool.
Ishikawa also came on as a substitute and scored 15 points, but his attack efficiency dropped in the second half with 301 TP and 3 T, which were neither good nor bad. However, it seemed that he had not yet been able to combine well with Zoppelari (which may have been why the two were talking after the game), and he was also playing the number 5 position (a rotation next to the opposite) which he was not very familiar with, so it must have been difficult.
Well, Perugia could have won even without Ishikawa. But the team turned around after he came in during the first set, so Ishikawa was definitely the game changer in this match.
And Zoppellari, the starting setter against Trento, played a great role and won the bald setter showdown against Sbertori. It would be great if he could use his quick and pipes a little better.
Although Trento's attack success rate was higher than Perugia's, from the second set onwards Perugia lost too many service aces and block points (8 aces, 9 blocks). It was especially bad that libero Laurenzano lost 4 points. It was time to hang in there.
This leaves one less team with a perfect record, leaving only Perugia and Piacenza, but I don't think Piacenza can beat Perugia in their current form, so Perugia is likely to go into the first half of the season undefeated.
Perugia
Starting line-up: MB Russo (2), OP Ventala (21), OH Semeniuk (2), MB Rosell (5), S Zoppellari (0), OH Plotnicki (28), L Corati
Substitutes: OH Ishikawa (15), OH Chanchota, OP Herrera
Torrent
Starting line-up: OH Ravia (9), MB Kozamelnik (6), OP Garcia (16), OH Micheletto (18), MB Flavio (9), S Sbertori (2), L Laurenzano
Substitutes: OP Lihiritsuki (2), S Aquarone, OH Bristott
MVP: OH Oleh Plotnitsky
28 points (4 on serves, 3 on blocks), attack effectiveness rate 37.77%
OH Ishikawa Yuki
Substitute appearance: 15 points, attack efficiency rate 30.501 TP3T
Detailed match stats here:
https://www.legavolley.it/match/38228
Next match: Sunday, November 3rd, 28:30 Japan time vs Civitanova
Broadcast: VBTV, FOD (Perugia match only)
Photo: legavolley.it, Sir Safety Perugia
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