The third round of the first half of the Italian men's volleyball Serie A Super League has ended. Milan, where Ishikawa Yuki plays, played against Piacenza away and was sadly defeated after a full set. Vibo Valentia, where Nishida Yuji plays, also played against Modena away and lost in straight sets.
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Milan vs Piacenza 2-3 (25-16, 21-25, 24-26, 25-20, 6-15)
Milan's opponent this time was Piacenza, a team on a roll, having won two straight matches since the start of the season, including defeating the previous champion Civitanova. Milan was expected to have a tough game, but early in the first set, they pulled away from Piacenza with nine consecutive breaks from setter Porro's serve, and took the first set without any trouble. However, Piacenza recovered from the second set, and ace Laghumjia (Turkey) scored points, leading to the second and third sets being taken in a row. Milan also concentrated the ball on Patry (France) and Ishikawa, but they were unable to score. In the fourth set, they were helped by the opponent's mistakes and expanded their lead from the beginning, and somehow managed to take it back to deuce. However, in the fifth set, they were caught by the serve of OH Antonov, who had joined in the middle of the game, and the block of MB Holt (USA), and they were quickly taken out of the early stages, and Piacenza took the set with the same momentum. It was a frustrating full-set loss for Milan.
Ishikawa's attack is blocked
On this day, Ishikawa was as stable as usual in terms of defense, such as in serving reception, but his attacks were terrible. His attack success rate was quite low at 22%, and he was blocked for 7 points and missed spikes for 2 points. His attack score for this day was 8 points, so his effectiveness was negative. This may have been the first time we've seen Ishikawa Yuki so lackluster on the offensive side. Ishikawa himself had some problems, but we also need to point out the thinness of the bench, which forced the team to play players who were not performing so well. Last season, in addition to Ishikawa, there were several other reliable outside hitters, such as Urnarto (Slovenia) and Ma (Canada), but this season's reserve outside hitters are both in their first year in Serie A and seem to lack both ability and experience. Milan's thin outside hitter depth will likely continue to be an issue this season.
For now, the next match is a Japanese showdown against Vibo, so I hope Ishikawa can get back into form quickly.
Vibo Valentia vs Modena 0-3 (22-25, 24-26, 20-25)
Following on from the previous round, Vibo Valentia will face Modena, one of the "Big 4". This year, Modena has added Nugapet (France), Bruno (Brazil), and libero Rossini to the team, and has also added destructive attackers such as Real (Brazil) and Nimir (Netherlands), giving them a solid lineup. However, in the first match, they lost in straight sets to Monza, who were considered inferior. In that respect, there was a chance that they could beat Vibo Valentia. Since they have three Brazilians, they should be accustomed to Bruno's tosses (but there are five Brazilians on the court in total).
However, Modena was strong after all. From the beginning, Vibo tried to break down the opponent OH Real, who is weak at receiving serves, but Nugapet and Rossini covered them and Real's number of receptions was not increased. Even so, Vibo's Brazilian outside players Douglas and Mauricio were in top form. Also, young MB Gargiulo, who started for the first time that day, scored many points with a highly decisive quick shot. However, Nishida was caught by a block on this day. In just three sets, he was blocked seven times, and scored 10 points, with an attack success rate of 38%. It seems that they have studied him a lot. Nishida's strength was that he showed quick response even when he was studied, but this time it seems that he did not have enough time. In this match, I got the impression that he was blocked many times when he needed one more point. Was there a part where he rushed the attack? He needs to make some corrections for the next one.
Nishida's block, partly blonde
However, his greatest weapon, his serve, was still functioning well, and he hit two service aces on this day. He is currently tied with Kaziski for first place in both service aces and aces per set. It's great to see that we are tied as the JTEKT championship duo. Will he be able to hit an ace against Ishikawa in the next Japanese showdown against Milan? We're all looking forward to it!
Other notable match results
The match between the "Big 4" Trento and Civitanova ended with a 3-1 victory for Trento. Trento, who showed skill as a team, defeated the powerful Civitanova, with 37-year-old captain Kaziski, who returned to his old club this season, and Micheletto, who is now the number one young overtime player, scoring mainly. Civitanova had an accident just before the match, when their mainstay Juan Torena was injured and unable to play, but they still had explosive power and showed an unpredictable game development until the end (the spiker's Latin American color is too strong lol). Trento is still undefeated this season, including last week's Supercoppa, and expectations are high for how far they can extend this record. It's already in sight that they will win the European Champions League for the first time in a long time. Meanwhile, the defending champion Civitanova has unexpectedly lost three official matches in a row, including the Supercoppa. They are forced to take immediate action.
37-year-old living legend Kaji-Suki
Padua, who are rumored to be losing Japan's Ai Takahashi in December, won against Ravenna in a full set thanks to the efforts of their German opposite Weber.
Round 3 All Match Results
Trento vs Civitanova 3-1
Monza vs Taranto 3-0
Piacenza vs Milan 3-2
Modena vs Vibo Valentia 3-0
Verona vs Cisterna 1-3
Padua vs Ravenna 3-2
Ranking
9 3-0 9/2 Trento
7 3-0 9/5 Piacenza
7 2-1 8/4 Monza
6 2-0 6/1 Perugia
5 2-1 6/6 Padua
4 1-2 6/6 Civitanova
3 1-1 4/3 Modena
3 1-1 5/5 Milan (Yuki Ishikawa)
3 1-1 6/6 Taranto
3 1-2 4/7 Vibo Valentia (Yuji Nishida)
3 1-2 4/7 Cisterna
1 0-3 3/9 Ravenna
0 0-3 2/9 Verona
Schedule for Section 4
Local time
Wednesday, November 3rd 20:30
Civitanova vs Verona
Trento vs Padua
Vibo Valentia vs Milan
Modena vs Piacenza
Ravenna vs Monza
Taranto vs Perugia
*Since Europe switched to winter time on October 31st, the time difference with Japan is 8 hours.
I'm really looking forward to the Japanese match between Vibo Valentia and Milan! The match will start at 4:30 on Thursday the 4th (Japan time)!!
Photo: Lega Pallavolo Serie A
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