Even in yesterday's match against Shirabu, they proactively increased the tempo of the game in order to avoid playing an extra set.
Although it does save some energy overall, it.. is ultimately just a drop in the bucket.
Not to mention that in this set, Itachiyama even increased their attacking frequency in response to their movements, further leading to increased physical exhaustion.
Thinking of this, Kurosu looked at Kita Shinsuke: "Shinsuke, in the second set, you will sub in after Aran's serve to pressure the back row."
Osamu, continue with the Quick Attack and increase the speed of Position 4 as much as possible. Atsumu, also focus on rotating to the back row to add strong attacks; don't forget Osamu's role as a decoy.
Everyone nodded. "Understood."
Just like in a long-distance race, use Miya Osamu to break the opponent's rhythm as much as possible.
But.. it really is a bit difficult for Miya Osamu.
First, it is impossible for Miya Osamu to increase his speed to Agatsuma's level, second, there is the issue of physical stamina.
If anyone else fails to coordinate, it is very likely that Miya Osamu's side will break down first.
However, Coach Kurosu was willing to trust the level of chemistry between the Miya Twins.
The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the halftime break, the teams prepared for the rotation confirmation for the second set.
Compared to Itachiyama's consistent S1 opening, Inarizaki's positioning underwent a significant adjustment, changing from their original back-row rotation starting with Oori in Position 1 to Ginjima in Position 1.
Coach Kusubashi instantly identified Kurosu's intention: "He's gambling on Miya Osamu being able to face off against Agatsuma."
And.. clearly, their gamble had paid off.
Chapter 73: The Seventy-Third Fox
Coach Utsunomiya naturally also noticed Inarizaki's intentions, but he had no intention of making any specific adjustments.
In terms of endurance, the best one at Itachiyama is Agatsuma.
Inarizaki's previous VO2 max tests were all conducted at Itachiyama, so Coach Utsunomiya is well aware of exactly what level Miya Osamu's physical fitness is at.
To try and use Miya Osamu to blow away Agatsuma.. is honestly a bit idealistic.
“Iizuna, what a great serve!”
Iizuna tossed the ball back and forth between his hands before finally calming his mind and looking toward Inarizaki.
Serving is a Setter's essential skill, after all, since setters do not participate directly in the attack, so their greatest scoring opportunity is the serve.
But Iizuna Sho is an anomaly among Setters; he.. is not very good at serving.
Of course, this lack of skill is in comparison to Miya Atsumu and the others. In reality, his serve is still quite decent; he just isn't able to use it to effectively end a match.
But.. he still felt a bit of lingering regret.
Having made up his mind, Iizuna decisively raised his hand and tossed the ball at the very last second of the service time limit.
The ball was tossed high and far enough, which was not typical of Iizuna's style.
Tachibana Shinji, who had just lost to Itachiyama yesterday, had a look of confusion on his face: "Iizuna has changed to high tosses?"
With a heavy thud, the volleyball flew over the net and slammed into the area between Miya Atsumu and Ginjima.
Miya Osamu, who had stepped back to receive the ball, glanced to the side and quickly shouted, "Out!"
The next second, the volleyball flew out of the court's boundaries and slammed into the area in front of the advertising boards behind it.
—A volleyball home run.
Agatsuma Soushi and Amatori Toru turned around immediately, giving Iizuna a thumbs up.
Iizuna wanted to find a hole to crawl into for a moment: "Don't you guys start mocking me at a time like this!"
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, stroked the beard on his chin. "Even Iizuna has moments like this."
Inarizaki started at a very fast pace, the twins' Quick Attack immediately forced Agatsuma into wide-ranging movement across the front row.
Miya Osamu deftly turned as he arrived under Position 2, catching Agatsuma Soushi completely off guard.
Agatsuma Soushi, unable to stop his movement in time, rushed under the marker, but by the time he tried to chase after it, it was already too late.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand to give the ball to Owari Aran, Aran, having gained the opportunity to spike over the net, did not fail his teammate's trust, scoring with an incredibly powerful spike.
Iizuna frowned slightly; he seemed to have seen this movement pattern somewhere before.
By instantly shifting laterally across the width of the net, they maximized the gap in the block..
In that instant, Iizuna's gaze swept across Hinata sitting on the coaching bench, a sense of sudden realization dawned on him.
Yes, back when they were at Shiratorizawa, Hinata had once hinted that he could hit this kind of ball.
Compared to Miya Osamu's movements just now, Hinata's Achilles tendon is longer, his ankles are more flexible, his overall speed when changing direction is even faster.
Agatsuma Soushi raised his hand to rub his calf muscle, which was incredibly tense.
He had formed a preconceived notion; seeing that Inarizaki had placed Miya Osamu in his position, he subconsciously assumed the opponent was planning to focus on a Quick Attack.
But in reality.. Miya Osamu was nothing but a decoy.
But he couldn't just ignore Miya Osamu; once he completely let go of him, the pressure would instantly shift onto Komori.
Although Komori can handle it completely, there is no doubt that this will significantly reduce Komori's own advantage in mobility.
After Aran's serve, Kita Shinsuke substituted into the game.
Coach Utsunomiya frowned on the sidelines.
He somewhat understood what Inarizaki was trying to do; it wasn't just about Miya Osamu acting as a decoy, but rather the coordination between the Miya Twins.
Every time we rotated, the result was basically Agatsuma running a few extra steps. Once or twice was fine, but as it kept happening.. things were going to get bad.
He quickly stood up and signaled for a time-out to the head referee.
Agatsuma looked at the coach, the usually taciturn man was actually somewhat excited at this moment: "I'm fine."
If anything, it's matches like this that are interesting.
Coach Utsunomiya nodded, "I know. I just want you to take a break and, in the process, disrupt the opponent's rhythm."
They absolutely cannot let the opponent lead them by the nose; they must make things as uncomfortable as possible for Inarizaki as well.
He turned to look at the group of second-year students: "The opponents have subbed Aran out. Komori is going to mark the twins, Sakusa will drop back to defend against the opponent's quick attack."
Don't play too aggressively. Try to score by using the block whenever possible instead of forcing it. Kita's defense is second only to the libero on their team.
"Understood." The two nodded.
Utsunomiya finally looked at Iizuna: "Just play your serves as you feel, the Setter should try to play as steadily as possible, try to use the sets to induce the opponent's jump timing to create opportunities for Sakusa to spike."
Iizuna stood at attention: "I will."
Good grief, let's not even talk about the serve..
On the other side, Coach Kurosu also looked at Aran: "Get some good rest. As long as Kita is here, you don't need to worry about anything. When you return to the court, focus on playing Position 4 as a Spiker and utilizing the switching playstyle."
If possible, try to spike as hard as you can. It would be best to make Sakusa so exhausted from digging the ball that he has no energy left to deal with the subsequent attack.
Aran nodded: "Understood."
Kurosu looked at Miya Osamu: "If you can't hold on, tell me in time. He'll substitute in for you for these two sets, so don't worry too much."
Miya Osamu replied, "Okay."
The match resumed, with Kita Shinsuke stationed in the back row for defense, the entire process of Inarizaki receiving serves became somewhat smoother than before.
At the very least, Akagi didn't need to expand his defensive range; he only needed to focus on what was in front of him.
Akagi raised his hand and sent the ball over Miya Atsumu's head: "Atsumu."
Miya Osamu from the back row quickly moved forward, completing a rotation with Miya Atsumu in the center.
Koldorf on the other side didn't react at all before Miya Osamu had already tossed the ball to Miya Atsumu, who was standing right beside him.
With a loud bang, the volleyball was spiked by Miya Atsumu, slamming onto the opponent's floor.
The stands of Inarizaki erupted: "There it is! The Miya Twins' switching playstyle!"
Coach Kurosu stroked his chin by the sidelines.
It's obvious that Koldorf's reaction speed is slower than Agatsuma's. In the next set, could I bet on the rotation and have Miya Osamu use a Quick Attack against him?
Coach Utsunomiya's gaze swept over Coach Kurosu's side before finally slowly withdrawing his eyes.
After returning to the game, Aran quickly took the upper hand under the cover of the twins, scoring three consecutive points to take the lead before Itachiyama could adjust their playstyle.
Komori raised his hand to make a gesture toward Sakusa, the two primary blockers quickly adjusted back to their previous formation.
By this day of the tournament, both sides' physical strength and energy had actually declined significantly; it had become more a matter of pure endurance.
The decline in energy affects reaction speed the most; many times, the brain has made a judgment, but the limbs simply cannot keep up.
“Aran!” Miya Atsumu shouted Aran's name, but in the end, he forced his front set into a back set.
Miya Osamu, who had already jumped at a distance of half a step from his side, raised his hand to spike the ball. Agatsuma Soushi, who was completely fooled by Miya Atsumu's feint, failed to keep up, Komori Motoya was also half a beat late as a result.
The ball slammed into the ground, securing the final point of the second set for Inarizaki.
"Nice!!" The twins raised their hands and high-fived in celebration.
1:1, the score is currently tied.
Coach Kurosu changed the rotation according to his idea from the previous set, having Aran serve to ensure that Miya Osamu could match up against Koldorf.
But when both players stood on the court, Coach Kurosu's expression became quite colorful.
Not for any other reason, but simply because Itachiyama also rotated half a circle, the final result was still Miya Osamu to Agatsuma Soushi.
Coach Utsunomiya threw a provocative smile at Coach Kurosu across the net, but Coach Kurosu responded with a forced, mirthless expression.
In a great mood, Utsunomiya turned his head to look at Coach Himegomiya beside him. "I finally got that old fox for once. That felt good."
Sensing something was wrong, Coach Kurosu quickly made a hand gesture to everyone on the court.
—And following the same playstyle as the previous set.
Coach Utsunomiya's only goal was to avoid playing according to Inarizaki's strategy as much as possible; Inarizaki's playstyle in the last set was not only a torment for Itachiyama, but for themselves as well.
However, when it comes to bench depth, Itachiyama is definitely stronger than Inarizaki.