Yuki Ishikawa will play for Sir Susa Vim Perugia. After four seasons with Allianz Milan, the Japanese star has signed a two-year contract with arguably the world’s best team - reigning club world champions, Italian champions and Italian cup and super cup laureates.
Superlega 2023
After four seasons in Milan, Yuki Ishikawa off to Perugia
The Japanese star signs with the world and Italian champions for two seasons
Published 05:29, 15 May 2024
“It is a very strong team that won everything this year,” the 28-year-old outside hitter told sirsafetyperugia.it. “I thought that Perugia was the perfect team for me. I wanted to come here and I chose to wear the shirt of this great club.”
Ishikawa will have the tough task of stepping into the shoes of another distinguished world star, Cuban-born Wilfredo Leon of Poland, who is leaving Sir after six seasons with the club. In Perugia, the 1.92m-tall Japanese athlete will also have the strong internal competition of another two top-calibre outsides, Ukraine’s Oleh Plotnytskyi and Poland’s Kamil Semeniuk. Once again, Ishikawa will get to work with Angelo Lorenzetti, his first coach after arriving in the Italian SuperLega 10 years ago.
“I arrive in a team that plays very well, with great consistency, and which has very strong players on its squad,” Ishikawa continued. “I played against them many times and they always put us in difficulty. I will reunite with Angelo Lorenzetti, who is a great coach. When I arrived in Italy for the first time, I was 19 years old and I had him as a coach in Modena. I am very happy to play on his team again. I would like to show him that I have grown a lot here in Italy since I was 19.”
Parmareggio Modena was Yuki Ishikawa’s first Italian club. He joined them right out of high school for the 2014-2015 season and triumphed as a Coppa Italia winner with them. After a season back in Japan, he returned to the Italian SuperLega. He went through Top Volley Latina, Emma Villas Siena and Kioene Padova before joining Allianz Milan for four consecutive seasons. With them, he won Europe’s CEV Challenge Cup in 2021. Last season, Ishikawa had a solid contribution to Allianz’s historic success, the SuperLega bronze and a first ticket to Europe’s most prestigious club competition, the CEV Champions League.
“The Italian league is always very difficult. Winning is tough. It is certainly the best championship in the world. The level is very high. All the teams are strong and there are many great players,” said Ishikawa. “As an opponent, I have always struggled in front of the Pala Barton spectators, even if I managed to win a few times. There was always a warm audience and great support not only in Perugia, but also away from home. From next season, I will have them on my side and I am very happy. They will give me energy, confidence and emotion. I can't wait to play next year at the Pala Barton with these fans. We will see each other soon!”
Before next season, however, Yuki Ishikawa has work to do as the captain and the leading player of the Japanese national team, whose 2024 Volleyball Nations League campaign starts next week, eventually leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Last year, he had a key role in the team’s historic first VNL podium and made the Dream Team of the competition. Among his numerous individual accolades, the three that also stand out are his Dream Team nomination at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup and his two Most Valuable Player awards at the 2017 and 2023 Asian Championships, when Japan triumphed as continental champions. Ishikawa is the men’s VNL best scorer of all times with a total of 801 points and also the best spiker of all times with 678 points in attack. With 70 aces to his name, he is the third best server as well.
