On Saturday, May 3rd (local time), in the semi-finals of the Italian Superlegga 5th place match, Milan, where Tatsunori Otsuka plays, faced off against Verona, with Milan defeating Verona 3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 15-11).
OH Otsuka started in this match.
In the first set, Milan gained points from OP Regels' spikes and MB Kaneski's service aces from the beginning, and took a big lead of 10-5. From there, Verona narrowed the gap to 11-10 with OH Mozic's spikes from S Abaev's serve. After that, Milan gained points from OH Kaziyski and Verona from OH Sani, and the match continued with the score at 23-22. However, in the end, OH Kaziyski scored a service ace and Milan took the set 25-22.
In the second set, Verona took the lead 6-9 with OP Keita's service aces. However, Milano turned the game around with OP Regers' spike and MB Schnitzer's service aces to take the lead 12-11. Milano then extended their lead to 20-13 with three consecutive breaks from OH Kaziyski's serve, a service ace and a block from S Pollo. Milano won the set 25-19 with OP Regers' spike.
In the third set, Verona's mistakes and an ace from OP Regels gave Milan a 6-2 lead early on. After that, Milan continued to score with spikes from OP Regels and blocks from MB Kaneschi, leading 17-12. However, an ace from MB Vitelli, spikes from OP Keita and an ace helped Verona close the gap to 18-17. After that, Milan had a match point at 24-22 with an OP Regels spike, but OH Mozic and OP Keita spiked back to back to bring the score to deuce at 24-24. From there, OP Keita scored two consecutive aces to take the set at 24-26 for Verona.
In the fourth set, Verona took a 7-10 lead thanks to the efforts of OP Keita and OH Mojic. From there, Verona's mistakes narrowed the gap to 9-10, but Verona regained the lead at 11-15 thanks to spikes and service aces from OH Mojic. At this point, OH Otsuka, who struggled with serve reception, was replaced by OH Gardini. Milano scored points from spikes and blocks from MB Kaneschi, but Verona continued to score points, mainly from OP Keita's spikes, and maintained their lead. And in the end, OP Keita scored a counter attack from a powerful serve by OP Keita himself, and Verona won the set 20-25.
In the fifth set, Milan started with OH Kaziski and OH Ruati as outside hitters. Verona scored first with a spike from OH Mozic, but Milan blocked OP Keita two times in a row to take a 3-1 lead. Milan continued to score with OP Regels as the lead went into halftime with 8-6. OP Regels continued to score from S Pollo's serve to extend Milan's lead to 12-8, and finally OH Kaziski scored a spike to take the set 15-11, winning 3-2.
Detailed match stats here
https://www.legavolley.it/match/38995
As a result, Milan advanced to the fifth place final.
The MVP was OH Kaziski, who scored the winning point. He was the second highest scorer on the team with 14 points, and especially made his presence felt with his serve, scoring 3 service aces. He also achieved 6,300 points in his Italian career in this match. Incidentally, the top scorer in the Japanese league is Kunihiro Shimizu with 6,213 points.
Milan also had a great performance from OP Regels. He scored the most points on the team with 30 points (26 attacks, 2 serves, 2 blocks) and an attack efficiency rate of 62%, and his performance was outstanding, supporting the team in any situation. Even when it seemed that Verona was gaining momentum, this player's stable performance was one of the factors that led to the team's victory in the close match.
OH Otsuka played in the starting lineup and scored 5 points with a 50% attack effectiveness rate, but he struggled with his strength in serve reception and was forced to be substituted on the day. I hope he will be able to fix this and contribute to the victory in the final.
Verona's performance was dependent on OP Keita's condition until the end of the season. When his serve and spikes are good, his explosive power is unstoppable, but when his condition drops, he often loses points on attack. On this day, he was active with 28 points (23 on attack, 5 on serve), the highest on the team, but he also lost 11 points on attack, resulting in an attack efficiency rate of 26%.
Another scorer, OH Mojic, showed stable offensive performance with 23 points (20 attack, 1 serve, 2 block) and an attack efficiency rate of 641 TP3T, but struggled defensively, conceding 8 points on serve reception.
As a result, Verona, who was the runner-up in the Coppa Italia, finished the league in 7th place (thinking about it, Monza, who was a finalist in both the Coppa Italia and the league last year, with Ai Takahashi, was really amazing). This season, Verona suffered from injuries, so next season they will be aiming to be in the top 4 in the league. Christenson, the American national team player, is scheduled to join the team as a setter, so it will be interesting to see how he will make the most of this powerful attacking group.
Milan, who advanced to the 5th place final, will face Modena at 24:30 on Saturday, May 10th, Japan time. Milan's record against Modena this season is 1 win and 2 losses. Moreover, they lost both of their last two matches in straight sets. However, Milan has a chance to win. We are also looking forward to seeing Tatsunori Otsuka's excellent defensive performance.
Photo: legavolley.it
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