Outside of her comfort zone for the first time in her career, the Japanese star is embracing the challenges in the Lega Femminile
When Yuki Ishikawa became the first Japanese to play in Italy, back in 2014, he wanted to open the doors of the top national club league in the world to his compatriots. What he couldn’t imagine at the time, though, is that almost ten years later, his younger sister Mayu would be among the ones benefiting from his decision.
After five years of success in her home country with the Toray Arrows, the 23-year-old outside hitter decided to follow in her brother’s footsteps and joined him in Italy, signing with Il Bisonte Firenze in the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile ahead of the 2023-2024 season.
Watch Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1 matches live on VBTV.
Moving continents and adapting to a new culture are not always easy and Mayu has been feeling it in her first weeks in Italy. The Japanese national team star has been in great form on the court, ranking seventh in points scored (118) in the Italian League and helping her team continue inside the qualification zone for the playoffs – Firenze are currently in seventh place with four wins in eight matches.
The Most Valuable Player of the 2019 FIVB U20 World Championship, she felt it was time to step outside of her comfort zone and embrace the challenge of proving herself in the most competitive league on the planet as the only way to progress.
There’s been struggles, but also a lot of joy, and Volleyball World caught up with Mayu in an exclusive interview to understand how she’s doing less than two months after arriving in Italy.
Volleyball World: What made you think that this was the right moment to move out of the Japanese League and go to Italy? How was your decision process for that?
Mayu Ishikawa: After some years with the national team, I realized that the only way for me to consistently play against taller and more powerful opponents would be to move to another league. I also thought that there were many things that I could learn in Italy and, with the presence of my brother here, I decided to take on the challenge of playing in the Lega Femminile. I was a little bit concerned about taking this step the year before the Olympics because adapting to something new is not always easy, but even with that uncertainty, I still wanted to pursue my personal growth and I’ll make sure that the experience I get here helps me when I join the…
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