But if the Libero is from Nekoma.. then it's entirely possible.
At the same time, Kenma on the court also looked toward Kuroo: "Kuroo and Inukai, you two take Miya Osamu."
Generally speaking, Shoyo will rush toward positions where there are fewer blockers. He doesn't have enough strength, there isn't much variation in the trajectory of his ball when he's performing a Quick Attack, so it's possible to predict it.
“In this regard.. just leave it to Yaku's judgment.”
Everyone looked at Yaku at the same time, who had been entrusted with this heavy responsibility.
Yaku didn't say much, only nodding. "No problem, I've already been able to gradually get used to his movements."
No one on the court would ever doubt Yaku's ability.
The horizontal distance of the court is nine meters, while Yaku's usual defensive range is consistently over six meters.
Combined with the predictable ball trajectory, there will basically be no problems.
Umiya said, "If the Middle Blocker goes to mark Miya Osamu, the others can focus on defending against Non-quick Attacks, which will also prevent them from being tricked by a decoy's Quick Attack."
After the two sides switched sides, the second set began.
Nekoma also started their rotation from S1, with Kenma serving first.
Hinata and Unabara swapped positions and stood in the substitution area.
Even though a Middle Blocker is off the court half the time, thinking about the match itself is something that can never stop.
He watched every move made by Nekoma on the court, when Kenma, positioned on the offensive line, used his movement to draw Rishia away once again, he subconsciously said, "Moved?"
Oori was stunned. "What moved?"
On the court, Kenma raised his hands to set the ball to Kuroo on the other side, who then spread out wide at Position 2 to spike, successfully scoring by bypassing the Libero.
Coach Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, clapped his hands. "Don't worry about it, next ball!"
Only then did Hinata snap out of it, but for a moment, he didn't know how to describe it: "Kenma, Heisuke, they both moved together just now."
His description was quite abstract, but the seniors who had been in contact with him for a long time understood what he meant.
Aran spoke up, "Nekoma rarely plays that kind of lateral spread. Looking at the last set, that setter tends to use closer wing spikers to maintain a faster tempo in their offense."
Heisuke's judgment just now wasn't wrong; he simply lacked the experience to follow up immediately.
Oori Ren nodded in agreement: "When you're blocking, as long as it's not a one-on-one block, you can just watch the senior's movements. The more experience you have, the fewer misjudgments you'll make."
This kind of psychological and tactical aspect cannot see results through training in a short period of time; it can only be compensated for bit by bit through experience.
"Understood," Hinata nodded.
Miya Osamu scored on a second attack, Hinata immediately stepped forward to switch positions with Unabara Uta.
Usui leaned over the railing: "There it is, the core of Inarizaki's Quick Attack."
As things stood, Miya Osamu's two recent attempts at a Quick Attack were both caught by Nekoma's Middle Blocker; although he managed to score on one of them, his overall threat level had clearly diminished significantly.
No.. they've actually just adapted to it.
Unfortunately, Nekoma doesn't have any means to deal with a Double Quick yet; they won't be left behind by the score gap once again, will they?
Suna spun the ball in his hands, preparing to wait for the referee's whistle.
Kuroo held his hands up in front of him, not looking at the poised Hinata, but instead locking his gaze onto Miya Osamu on the other side of the net.
Miya Atsumu glanced at Kuroo, he already understood.
Then.. let him calibrate one last time, so he can prepare a surprise for the cats later.
Suna did not aim for the shortest time this time; instead, he waited until the very last second of the time limit before raising his hand to toss the ball up.
The prolonged serve time made the Nekoma players, who had already been prepared to react quickly, feel somewhat uncomfortable.
This serve was still aimed at the seam where the back-row players were rotating.
Having gained significant experience in handling such plays, the Nekoma members made no mistakes this time, steadily receiving the ball.
Kenma!
Kenma lowered his center of gravity, getting ready to jump and set the ball.
Miya Osamu stared at his movements, ready to follow up with a block at any moment.
Kenma couldn't achieve the same effect as Miya Atsumu, where the direction is impossible to tell before the ball flies out, so it was possible to make some judgments based on the subtle movements of his hands.
From this angle, he should be attempting a dump over the middle blocker after jumping.
Once he had made his judgment, Miya Osamu immediately called Hinata and Rishia Heisuke over to block.
But.. they were still lured into Nekoma's trap.
Miya Osamu's judgment of the direction was indeed correct, but unfortunately, his timing was wrong.
Unlike the expected jump set from the setter, Kenma didn't jump at all; instead, he raised his hands to touch the ball while staying in place, forcibly creating a tiny time gap between the spiker's spike and the original timing.
"That was a super set." Shibayama, sitting by the coaching bench, widened his eyes.
With a loud thud, Nekoma successfully scored a point.
Nice, Kenma!
What a great spike!!
Miya Atsumu almost laughed from anger. "I was played."
Kenma is completely different from him; that style..
It feels especially annoying when someone on the team can't keep up mentally.
Yamamoto's powerful serve felt even better than in the previous set, with a bit of luck on his side, the ball landed in a very tricky spot.
Unabara and Ginjima both lunged forward at the same time, nearly colliding with each other, but fortunately, they managed to save the ball.
Watching the ball fly out of bounds, Miya Atsumu chased after it without hesitation, preparing to save the ball outside the court.
Kiryu's expression in the stands was incredibly solemn.
A setter who can guarantee minimal error at any time.. Miya Atsumu's strength is beyond doubt.
At the same time, Hinata had also charged out from near the center, preparing once again to launch an attack relying on his own speed.
A little faster, push my advantages to the absolute limit, break through the opponent's block..
Eh?
Staring at the empty space in front of him, Hinata froze for a moment.
Is no one coming after him!
The volleyball had already flown unerringly toward his eyes. Seeing Yaku, who had already taken a step toward the direction of his cross-court spike, Hinata's thoughts raced frantically in an instant.
He forced himself to stop his spiking motion, then, the moment the volleyball flew past his eyes..
He touched the ball with his left hand.
The spike sent in the opposite direction left Yaku somewhat shocked, but in his desperation, he still managed to chase it down and made a diving save to receive the ball.
The volleyball flew high into the air, sailing over the net and falling toward the back row of Inarizaki.
Out of bounds?
Unabara's judgment wavered for a split second, immediately after, the ball slammed down right on the baseline.
The referee looked down to inspect and ruled the ball in, giving Nekoma's Yaku the point.
Usui on the second floor stared with wide eyes: "The Libero scored, that was so cool!"
Seeing the ball dropped like that, Akagi, watching from below the court, was almost fuming with anger: "Unabara! What are you hesitating for! Get moving!"
Realizing that the opponent's reception error meant they should have been preparing to adjust their positioning, he couldn't believe he had let such an obvious opportunity slip away..
Akagi felt like he could be woken up by anger just by dreaming about this scene in the middle of the night.
"I'm sorry!" Unabara was practically ready to kowtow and beg for forgiveness from everyone on the court.
Watching this scene, Kiryu couldn't help but nod. "Nekoma is starting to change their mindset, just like you said."
Nekoma's Libero's ability is truly terrifyingly strong; he was able to handle that situation just now, where one had to consider spikes coming from three different directions, with such ease.
Miya Atsumu's expression remained unchanged; he ignored the serious Unabara and looked across at Yaku: "Just as I thought."
Can we not delay any longer..
“Shoyo-kun,” Miya Atsumu turned his head to look at Hinata, “pay close attention to my tosses in a moment.”
Even if he didn't understand what Miya Atsumu meant for a moment, Hinata still nodded and said, "Yes!"
Miya Atsumu didn't care whether Hinata understood what he meant.
It doesn't matter now; once Hinata sees the ball.. he will understand naturally.
Yamamoto's second spike was received by Unabara; although it was still a bit off, it was much better than before.
For Miya Atsumu, it could already be considered a good receive.
Since the receive was good, it was time to try that one as well..
Thinking this, Miya Atsumu leaned his body back and raised his hand, setting the ball in a backset toward the already jumping Hinata.
Kuroo frowned slightly. Was he really going to set the ball to Hinata in this situation?
The soft spike had no hang time; there was simply no time to adjust.
It was obvious that Hinata was lucky to have managed that spike on the last play; otherwise, he would have essentially been feeding the ball to Yaku.
Hinata stared intently at Yaku's movements; what would he have to do this time to break through the opponent's defense?
And in the next instant, unlike all the previous tosses, this ball carried a slight spin, traveling toward him in a curved trajectory.
Then, at the very moment he was about to spike.. he hung in the air.
Hinata, having instantly understood the meaning behind Miya Atsumu's spike, widened his eyes, his face filled with surprise and excitement.
Ah.. it's stopped.
Hinata's spiking arm slowed its rhythm, then he snapped his wrist to spike the ball.
Unlike his usual diagonal spikes, this one went straight in the opposite direction under his control.
Seeing that Yaku wouldn't be able to catch it, Kenma, who was still in the front row, pushed off the ground and performed a diving save, making contact with the ball just before it hit the floor.