Ishikawa and teammates stun Trentino in Trento

With Japanese outside hitter Yuki Ishikawa leading the way, Allianz Milan stunned the still-reigning Italian SuperLega Credem Banca champions Itas Trentino Trento at their own ground with a straight-set victory on Wednesday evening to edge ahead in the best-of-five third place playoff by 2-1 in wins and get to within a win of the bronze medals and a historic qualification for the CEV Champions League.

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In the third match of the series, Ishikawa fired 17 points in attack at a 61% success rate and added an ace towards an 18-point match high in Allianz’s 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-14) shutout of their hosts in front of over 2,600 fans on the stands at the ilT quotidiano Arena. With his performance, the Japanese star earned the MVP award.

His cross-court teammate, Cuban Osniel Mergarejo, added another 14 points, including two kill blocks and an ace. Belgian opposite Ferre Reggers finished with 11. Allianz’s Argentinean middle blocker Agustin Loser impressed with five kill blocks and also reached the double digits with a total of 10 points, while setter Paolo Porro led the way in serving with four aces. Trentino’s leading scorers, outside Giulio Magalini and Luxembourgish opposite Kamil Rychlicki, put away 10 points each.

“Today we were really very good,” Ishikawa said after the match. “The teams were very close in the first two sets, but we managed to win both. Then we won the third very clearly. Overall, we built a good game plan and took it to the end. We return to the Allianz Cloud on Saturday where we will have to play another beautiful match. I think the serving went very, very well, but also the blocking and the defence. We were very strong.”

“Milan played a good match, free of errors and full of good defence and coverage, fundamentals in which we sometimes fail to pay attention, also because we often want to close attacks with strength, and not with a clear head,” Trentino’s Serbian middle blocker and captain Marko Podrascanin commented. “The thing that I consider most necessary at this moment is to forget this match together with the semifinals against Monza as it is all in the past and we must focus only on the present and the future because we still have time to erase the mistakes and earn qualification for the next Champions League. I really hope this wasn't our last home game of the season.”

The fourth match of the third place playoff is set to take place on Saturday, April 27, in Milan. Meanwhile, Thursday’s SuperLega programme offers the third game of the best-of-five championship series between Sir Susa Vim Perugia and Mint Vero Volley Monza.

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 championship playoff – legs 3 and 4:
Apr 25, 18:00 local (16:00 UTC): Sir Susa Vim Perugia v Mint Vero Volley Monza
Apr 28, 18:00 local (16:00 UTC): Mint Vero Volley Monza v Sir Susa Vim Perugia

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 third place playoff – leg 4:
Apr 27, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Allianz Milan v Itas Trentino Trento

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024 fifth place playoffs – final:
Apr 27, 18:00 local (16:00 UTC): Rana Verona v Cucine Lube Civitanova

SuperLega Credem Banca 2023-2024: full schedule and results

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