Unfortunately, the three people in the back row responsible for receiving for Inarizaki at this stage are all battle-hardened veterans.
A mere ceiling serve is nothing to fear.
Aiming at the shadow of the falling volleyball, Akagi decisively stepped one step back to his right: "I've got it!"
He raised his hand to touch the ball; although his judgment was slightly off, he still managed to cushion the ball with his fingers.
The volleyball flew toward the front row, but it wasn't over the head of the setter at Position 2; instead, it flew toward Position 4.
Miya Atsumu didn't fuss about it; he simply turned and retreated under the ball, raising his hands to receive it and using Hinata's cover to send the ball toward Oori Ren.
Oori Ren's diagonal spike was received by Sakusa behind him, Iizuna stepped up to organize the attack, Amatori leaped into the air at Position 4 once again, preparing for a powerful strike to break through the defense.
After landing, Oori Ren quickly stepped to his right to cover, touching the ball with his fingers: "Touch!"
"Good touch! Atsumu!" Akagi sent the ball out again.
Agatsuma Soushi, who had been keeping a side glance on Miya Atsumu while watching Hinata Shoyo move past him on the opposite side, quietly withdrew the hand he had held near the net.
Agatsuma's expression sharpened, his eyes still lingering on Miya Atsumu.
—Second Attack!
Giving up on Hinata, he instantly turned back in the opposite direction, preparing to dive toward Miya Atsumu's position.
But having followed Hinata's lateral movements for so long, his stamina was already near exhaustion. Coupled with the heavy burden his height and weight placed on his knees, his legs suddenly felt weak as he took that step; his sweaty feet slipped on the floor, he collapsed directly onto his knees.
And at this moment, Miya Atsumu had already sent the ball out with one hand, a high ball to Hinata at Position 4.
Facing the marker at Position 4, Hinata leaped with his body sideways, raising his left hand to spike the ball.
The ball, which would most likely have been a straight spike hit with the right hand, took a sudden turn and slammed into the front court on the other side.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
Miya Atsumu, having landed on the ground, glanced at Agatsuma Soushi, who was already sitting on the floor, instantly felt as if all his recent efforts had been wasted on something pointless.
He gave a flashy set, Hinata delivered a flashy spike, both intended to draw the blockers away.
In the end.. the opposing blockers tripped over themselves, they even blocked the path of Amatori and Iizuna.
Seeing Agatsuma's furrowed brow, the captain, Iizuna, who had noticed him failing to get up, hurriedly called a time-out.
Whether it was from exhaustion and a sprained ankle or knee pain, Agatsuma should not have continued to stay on the volleyball court.
Shiratori was not surprised by this: "He's stalling."
With that kind of running style, which was practically a continuous hundred-meter sprint, having to keep jumping constantly on top of that, his knees definitely wouldn't be able to take it.
Itachiyama called over the substitute Middle Blocker No. 3; compared to the height of Agatsuma and Koldorf, his 1.81m stature was somewhat inconspicuous.
But as a third-year substitute for the王者 Itachiyama, his strength would undoubtedly be at a starter level even in many national-level teams.
Moreover, in this situation, Number 3's greatest advantage is actually his ample physical stamina.
Number 3 lowered his eyes.
Just play dutifully; besides, his main purpose is just to fill the numbers, once Agatsuma handles things over there, there's a good chance he'll come back.
Maintain the state of following the block; if you can manage the quick attack, do it, if you can't, let it go.
Oori Ren's serve was interrupted by Itachiyama, but relying on his physical advantage, he executed a beautiful Back Quick to take the point immediately, the serve passed to Iizuna.
Agatsuma was not in the front row, so after a brief coordination between Hinata and Miya Atsumu, Hinata began running toward Position 4 for a Flat Quick Attack.
His left leg was in decent condition; although it didn't jump as high as his right leg, it was more than enough for this 3-meter line attack.
Miya Osamu lowered his center of gravity to receive the ball, sending it steadily above Miya Atsumu's head.
He had already experienced firsthand how Hinata's Quick Attack pulled number 3 toward the antenna, so he jumped along with Hinata.
Miya Atsumu quickly cast a glance toward Aran behind him, Aran, who had been waiting for a long time, broke free from his counterattack position, stepped forward with large strides, leaped high behind Hinata.
Amatori on the other side of the net reacted quickly, together with Inamura on the other side, moved to block Aran's side.
Aran took a deep breath, his eyes fixed intently on the volleyball in front of him.
He only needs to draw away a single blocker; the inherent advantage of a back-row attack is enough to support him in crushing a two-man block.
No, rather.. this is the mission an Ace should fulfill.
It means not disappointing the expectations of one's juniors, not letting down the hard work of one's teammates.
He wants to—score!
Hinata, who had slightly bent his waist to evade, heard the sudden, loud explosion of sound right above his head.
The spike grazed the net, causing the entire net to shake violently.
The volleyball's position was almost impossible to discern with the naked eye; even Komori, with his top-tier dynamic vision, could only rely on instinct to save it.
Another heavy thud echoed as the volleyball flew through the air, nearly grazing the legs of the referee standing by the court.
The Inarizaki cheering section erupted instantly: "Great shot! Aran!!"
The Ace's long-awaited spike scored, which was incredibly inspiring.
Shiratori glanced at the scoreboard once more from the sidelines: "Inarizaki's firepower coverage.. it's absolutely devastating."
Moreover, the Ace's stamina is still quite abundant, which is extremely effective at a time like this.
Aran, having landed, immediately reached out and patted Hinata's head: "Good cover, Shoyo!"
Hinata raised his hand to high-five Aran, but the other man opened his hand toward him.
After a moment of surprise, Hinata still leaned in to follow Aran's movement.
In a place where Hinata couldn't see, Aran sent a triumphant and provocative look toward Miya Atsumu.
Releasing Hinata, Aran said solemnly, "Don't listen to Atsumu. You can hug me too, Aran-senpai."
Hinata nodded. "Understood."
As Aran was about to walk back, a voice drifted into his ear: "I wonder who's only finding their rhythm when the match is almost over. With a score gap like this, they might as well just slack off until tomorrow.."
Aran was momentarily speechless, but when he turned around, he only saw Miya Atsumu's back.
Hinata hurriedly said, "That's not true, Aran-senpai was also providing cover and defensive support. It's just that my receiving isn't good enough to allow Aran-senpai to participate in the attack."
Without Aran-senpai's defense, I wouldn't be able to score either. It's just like.. the support behind us!
That single sentence made Aran feel as if his skull was about to be blown off.
He raised his hand to wipe away non-existent tears, silently placing Hinata and Miya Atsumu on opposite ends of a scale, but Hinata won by a landslide.
Aran patted Hinata's shoulder with relief. "You're so reliable, Shoyo. Go out there and attack with everything you've got—tear a piece of meat off them!"
Amatori on the other side of the net suddenly looked up.
He looked at Hinata, who was pouring his heart out to Aran, then at Agatsuma Soushi, who was being held down by Coach Himegomiya on the Coach's bench, a sense of absurdity rose from deep within him.
Agatsuma was already being torn apart by Hinata, Inarizaki was still adding fuel to the fire! What on earth is going on!
A voice that sounded somewhat teeth-gritting echoed from across the net again: "As if you're so good at receiving.. the first pass flew off somewhere completely.."
Aran raised his hand and picked his ear. "Who's talking? I can't hear them."
Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue softly, trying his best to suppress the scowl forming on his face.
He turned back with a smile: "Just keep playing in this state, Shoyo, don't give the opposing blockers a chance to score."
Hinata's attention was instantly pulled back by him: "Understood!"
With Itachiyama's starting lineup shorthanded, the gap that Inarizaki initially created showed no signs of narrowing.
Even after the time-out at 16 points ended, the score gap remained at four, the serve transitioned to Suna.
This time, Kurosu did not choose to let Suna perform the serve, but instead substituted in Kumagai.
Kumagai spun the volleyball in his hands; having already gained a preliminary understanding of Dual Wield, he tossed the ball into the air the moment the referee blew the whistle.
Adhering to the principle of giving his opponents no time to react, Kumagai sent a float serve toward Iizuna.
Amatori, who was responsible for receiving the ball for Iizuna, clicked his tongue but dutifully moved to receive it.
After Iizuna received the ball, he passed it once again to Sakusa, who was jumping at Position 4.
Sakusa's jumping posture was not good; in order to bypass the slightly slower Amatori and the advancing Iizuna, he could only run around the outside of the court to gain momentum.
Aran and Oori Ren's block had already closed in, Sakusa, attempting to spike a topspin side-spin, shifted his center of gravity forward the moment he made contact with the ball.
As he landed, he was forced to bend his knees toward the ground, nearly kneeling on the floor.
Before Itachiyama could even react, after the block made contact, Miya Atsumu immediately transitioned into a back-row set, sending the ball straight to Aran at Position 4 for a spike.
Koldorf used his height and reach to chase after it, finally touching the ball with his fingertips.
With his expression contorted, Koldorf still shouted, "Touch!"
The volleyball fell toward the other side of the net.
Sakusa, kneeling on the floor, raised his hand and pushed, the volleyball that was about to land suddenly flew up, soaring over the net and past the opponent's recently landed block to land in the back.
With a soft thud, the volleyball slammed into the Inarizaki court.
Miya Osamu's reaction was more than a little slow to cover this position; he didn't keep up at all.
Like an absurd play, Sakusa's casual push scored the point despite the pressure from everyone's high balls and spikes.
Kuroo Rei frowned by the sidelines: "That's a serious error for Inarizaki, isn't it?"
Shiratori nodded. "Yeah, they shouldn't have lost that point. Number 11's form is off."
However, given that the match had reached this level, it wasn't uncommon to see balls missed simply because a player's reaction time couldn't keep up.
Miya Osamu closed his eyes and raised his hand toward Coach Kurosu.
Coach Kurosu raised his hand to signal a time-out to the head referee, calling everyone back.
He picked up the thermometer and quickly pointed it at the isolated Miya Osamu, the screen turning orange was a clear sign that something was wrong.
Rishia had already handed over a water cup and a towel, at the same time, he brought over a jacket thrown in by the Second String players.
“He has a slight fever and can't play anymore.” Kurosu's expression was very calm.
In fact, Miya Osamu being able to hold out until this point had already exceeded his original expectations.
However, this match had actually transferred most of the responsibility for the Quick Attack from Miya Osamu to Hinata Shoyo, so the pressure on Miya Osamu was not as great as before.