On Thursday, April 24th, local time, the 5th match of the Italian Superleg PO semi-final between Perugia (Yuki Ishikawa) and Civitanova was held, and Perugia lost to Civitanova 1-3 (29-27, 19-25, 17-25, 22-25). With this, Perugia's semi-final record is now 2 wins and 3 losses, and they have been eliminated from the semi-finals.
For the first time in a playoff game, Perugia started the match with OH Ishikawa in the starting line-up.
While Civitanova was consistently delivering powerful serves, Perugia caught up in the first set with spikes from OH Ishikawa and a service ace from OP Ventala, and after a deuce, they overcame the odds to take the lead (29-27).
However, from the second set onwards, Civitanova's serves continued to show momentum, with players such as OH Bottolo showing no signs of losing, while Perugia's serves struggled and they began to lose more points in attacks, allowing Civitanova to comfortably take the second and third sets (19-25, 17-25).
In the fourth set, Perugia continued to score points from the beginning thanks to spikes from OH Ishikawa and other players, and maintained the lead (20-18). However, in the final stages, Civitanova turned the situation around with four consecutive breaks, including an ace, from OH Bottolo's serve (20-23). In the end, OP Ventara's serve went out, and Civitanova took the set 22-25. They won 1-3 and advanced to the final for the first time in two seasons.
The stats for the match areHere.
Yuki Ishikawa made his first start since the UEFA Champions League match against Monza in six games, and his first start in a playoff game. He scored 13 points, the second highest on the team, and every time he scored a point he showed great enthusiasm, almost exploding with emotion, inspiring the team. However, he conceded many goals in attack, resulting in a poor efficiency rate of 171 TP3T, and he also conceded 8 goals in serve reception, showing little brilliance.
The MVP was Civitanova's OH Bottolo. Civitanova had a total of 17 service aces in this match, 7 of which were from Bottolo. Counting break points, it's impossible to know how many times he broke from his serve. He was undoubtedly a big contributor to the comeback win in the 4th set. His defensive performance in serve reception and digs was also outstanding.
Civitanova now advances to the final after winning the Coppa Italia, while Perugia misses out on the final after winning the Coppa Italia, leaving Perugia with only the Champions League as a chance to win the title.
Also, for Yuki Ishikawa personally, it was a strange coincidence that he lost to Civitanova in the semi-finals two seasons ago when he was in Milan, but he lost again after winning two games. And the next third place deciding match was against Piacenza, the same team as two seasons ago. That time, he lost three games in a row and was helplessly defeated. Piacenza is also a very troublesome team when they are on a serve, so if they play like today, they will not be able to win.
Although the dream of winning the championship has been shattered, the third place match is also an important match for the right to participate in the Champions League next season. I want to prepare for the first match so that I can somehow regain my confidence and become a strong Perugia.
Photo: legavolley.it
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