Bad step in game 3 for Trentino Volley who suffered a heavy 0-3 against Allianz Milano at the ‘Il T Quotidiano Arena’. The final for third place begins to lean towards the Milanese who, thanks to the success in Trentino, move on to lead the series 2-1, with game 4 on Saturday which could already qualify for the next Champions League. We start with the awarding of the MVP award for the semi-finals against Monza to Alessandro Michieletto. Fabio Soli’s choices fall on the seven starters who also took the field in Milan with Sbertoli in the control room, Rychlicki as opposite, Michieletto and Magalini as flankers, Podrascanin and Kozamernik in the centre, Laurenzano as libero. Lineup also confirmed for Roberto Piazza with Porro as setter, Reggers as opposite, Mergarejo and Ishikawa as spikers, Vitelli and Loser as central defenders, Catania as libero. The Milanese team’s start was immediately convincing with the Japanese Ishikawa and the Belgian Reggers leading Piazza’s boys to their first lead (7-10). Trentino Volley tries to raise its head again thanks to blocks from Kozamernik and Rychlicki (17-17), but Loser returns the favor to Magalini, bringing the inertia back to their side (20-22). Closing the set is Ishikawa who takes advantage of the touch to the block for 22-25. The story seems to change in the second with Michieletto who seems to give the impression of changing gear with every shot (6-3), but then Milan’s strength lies in not giving up any balls and fighting to get back under the Trentino players: Loser blocks Kozamernik and Ishikawa’s pipe gives Milan the new lead (13-14). It’s up to Mergarejo to first exploit the blocking hands and then press Rychlicki (21-23). The ending is still Ishikawa’s who also closes the second set (23-25). The third partial is a monologue from Allianz Milano which forces Fabio Soli to call two timeouts in the short space of a few points (2-6). Michieletto and Rychlicki try to bring peace to the Trentino home, but Vitelli presses D’Heer and clears the ball for Piazza’s men (4-10). In the final Loser continues his wall show on Michieletto, with Mergarejo imitating him on Cavuto (13-24). The final comment was made by Reggers who scored the final 14-25 which sent Allianz Milano into seventh heaven. Heavy score that brings the series to game 4 with a score of 2-1 in favor of the Milanese. For Fabio Soli’s boys there is one last chance to keep the accounts open and that is to win the challenge at the ‘Allianz Cloud’ to drag everything to game 5. Given the effort and difficulties shown on the pitch, it will certainly not be easy to overcome an Allianz Milano team that manages to exploit and capitalize on Trentino’s mistakes, but it is what is needed to qualify for the Champions League. The protagonist of the evening, the man of the match who was able to drag Allianz Milano into this resounding victory could only be the Japanese Yuki Ishikawa, author of 18 points combined with 61% in attack and 64% in reception.
