He worked really hard on his saves, so what if he actually wins MVP?
Kumagai, who was collecting towels, said in a low voice, "I think Shoyo should just wear the crown himself."
Before Miya Atsumu could throw a glare his way, he had already circled around Rishia Heisuke, leaving Rishia looking confused by Atsumu's sudden glare.
Miya Atsumu stared at Rishia Heisuke, as if asking for his opinion.
Rishia took a half-step back.
No, no, no, this isn't a question; it's clearly an intimidation!
He struggled to organize his words: "Atsumu-senpai is incredible; his serve scoring and assist rates are both very high. Considering everything, it truly is Atsumu-senpai."
Miya Atsumu was satisfied.
Aran looked at Rishia, feeling both frustrated by his lack of drive and deeply disappointed: "I knew you were just bullying a junior, you bastard."
Rishia Heisuke gave an awkward smile.
And if you must say, Aran-senpai's performance in the first two matches was indeed mediocre; his form has warmed up a bit in this match, but he was still overshadowed by Hinata, who has been held in the palm of the setter's hand and elevated to great heights.
But as for Hinata.. first, his serve reception error rate is a bit high, second, he doesn't play the whole court.
The more I think about it.. this MVP title for Atsumu-senpai feels almost too easy, like he just stumbled upon it.
Watching Miya Atsumu and Aran start bickering, Coach Kurosu reached out and pulled Hinata aside: "If you don't feel well, you must, must say so immediately."
Hinata nodded: "Yeah, yeah, I feel great right now! I could run a marathon!"
Coach Kurosu sighed.
—That's exactly why this is bad news.
After submitting the starting lineup for the Second Set, everyone returned to the court.
Kuroo Rei from Fukuda General starts for Fukuda General.
Watching the opposing setter take up Position 4 once again, Hoshiumi's mouth twitched in the stands: "Fukuda General is still using this kind of abstract opening formation."
Hirugami also frowned. "The suppression on the block is indeed effective, but playing like this actually allows Inarizaki to evade it again."
Hakuma looked back: "Avoided what?"
Hoshiumi spoke bluntly: "Kiyoko-senpai and Shoyo."
Hakuma thought seriously for a moment: "It should be fine. Hinata's movement speed already dropped during the last set, so Inarizaki will probably choose to have Owari-senpai handle the heavy lifting?"
Although they could only face each other in the previous round, it could be considered that they both managed to avoid their difficult attacking points.
Hoshiumi didn't know what to say for a moment. Theoretically, it was true, but..
He looked past Hirugami toward Hakuma: "Don't you think it would be disgusting when we actually play against each other?"
Hakuma scratched his head. "Really? I didn't feel that way. Maybe it's because I'm stronger."
Hoshiumi wanted to raise his hand to give him a blow.
He was the one who had been left scrambling all over the court the day before yesterday! The number of ineffective blocks from these guys in the front row is absolutely outrageous!
On the court, Matsuda felt like his life was incredibly hard.
Under his persistent arguments.. Coach Tsurumaru decided to sacrifice him alone to ensure everyone else's success.
Anyway, he was going to be caught off guard regardless, so he might as well abandon his conventional receiving technique and use a diving save to handle those difficult balls; even if he just touches them, it's a victory.
That being said, he had no intention of simply accepting his fate.
He is the starting Libero for a team that has already made it to the national finals! How can he fail to receive a ball like this!
Tsurumaru Masato spoke softly from the sidelines: "Shuji, behave yourself."
He was well aware of the actual capabilities of his own teammates; things like receiving weren't something that could evolve just by a sudden burst of willpower, the possibility of a breakthrough during a match was almost zero.
Moreover, Matsuda is not like Hinata, who is like uncultivated land; I have basically already worked on every point that could be trained or developed, his current state is already his best.
Matsuda Shuji: "Yes, Coach, no problem, Coach."
Kuroo's mouth twitched.
Setting aside his own team's eccentricities for a moment, Inarizaki's current positioning could be described as having very strong front-row blocking and defense.
As for the back row's reception.. he glanced at Aran, who was already blocking in front of Hinata, Akagi, who was preparing to cover half the court.
Yeah, he's very strong too.
Coach Tsurumaru's voice came again: "Shuji, watch closely how Akagi does it."
To be honest, Matsuda and Akagi are quite similar; both have deficiencies in their receive, but they possess exceptional ball-saving abilities.
Especially since both teams' setters can compensate for reception errors to a certain extent.. it could be said that Akagi is a textbook example for Matsuda.
Hinata looked back at Akagi Michinari.
That's right, Akagi-senpai is incredibly strong! The opposing coach has excellent vision!
The moment he withdrew his gaze, he noticed Miya Atsumu in the front row making a gesture toward him from behind.
Without even waiting for a response from him, Miya Atsumu had already withdrawn his hand.
As Hinata blinked, cold sweat broke out on Aran's forehead.
—Seriously? Are they really going to torment him like this?
The whistle blew.
Kuroo did not wait for the serve to time his movement; instead, after adjusting his state, he directly raised his hand and tossed the ball.
A very standard high toss, every movement looked as if it had been carved straight out of a textbook.
Leaping up in front of the baseline, he raised his hand and delivered a heavy spike.
BANG!!
The ball, nearly invisible to the naked eye, arrived in front of him almost instantly. However, Aran, who had already anticipated that Kuroo might target Hinata with the serve, lowered his center of gravity and used his forearms to precisely meet the ball head-on.
His leg muscles provided excellent support; when facing a serve with very little spin like this, as long as he kept his body stable enough, he could neutralize it.
What a great receive!
As Miya Atsumu retreated, Hinata decisively bypassed Aran and moved forward.
Ginjima retreated to cover the front row defense, while Aran, after receiving the ball, moved toward the baseline in that same posture, preparing for a back-four attack.
Glancing at Hinata and Miya Atsumu crossing paths near the Three-meter Line, Shiratori frowned.
Why did he feel like.. Hinata didn't really look like he was preparing for a back-row attack?
Shimizu's calm voice rang out at that moment: "Natsume, over here."
Almost in the next instant, Miya Atsumu landed lightly, while Hinata Shoyo, who had jumped half a step behind him, raised his hand to touch the ball, sending it directly to a spot a certain distance away from the net.
Ushijima and Kazama, who were originally on the other side, ran with all their might to catch up, but a half-second of hesitation prevented them from keeping up with Aran's movements.
After the loud impact, the volleyball slammed down directly onto his head, Midorikawa, who was still off-balance from his footwork, was knocked straight to the ground.
The volleyball bounced high into the air and struck the stands.
Cursing inwardly, Amatori stood up and raised his hand to slap the ball that was heading toward Agatsuma.
A furious spike was no different from a spike, the volleyball was smashed back into the court once again, narrowly missing Miya Atsumu.
The Hoshiumi team didn't know what to say for a moment: "What on earth is this.."
Hinata raised his hand toward Aran: "Aran-senpai!
Aran and Hinata high-fived, at the same time, he suggested, "Slow down a bit more; the timing for the spike was a little short."
Understood," Hinata nodded, then looked toward Miya Atsumu. "Atsumu-senpai, how should I adjust this?
Holding the ball, Miya Atsumu raised a hand to gesture to Hinata: "Just adjust the ball's trajectory to be higher; it's okay if the positioning isn't perfect, Aran will handle it himself."
Aran gave a forced laugh.
Across the net, Kazama Junichi's face was written with shock: "He learns way too fast!"
How did he remember that they had only just used this in the last set, now Inarizaki was using it against them in this one?
Shiratori affirmed this: "Their ability to act is just too strong."
This ability to act on one's thoughts is so strong it's almost enviable; of course.. he also envies how free they are.
But it didn't matter; being stable enough was their strength.
Miya Atsumu spun the volleyball in his hands, tilting his head to glance at Shiratori, who was still at the front row.
The cheers from Inarizaki were cut short as a whistle sounded immediately after.
He raised his hand and held the ball in front of him, using the ball to hide half of his face.
It seemed as if he were thinking, yet it also seemed as if he were praying.
With precise timing, he raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
Sweat beaded on Matsuda's forehead; after ruling out the possibility of a float serve, only power serves and spin remained.
But they couldn't say for certain what kind of spin Miya Atsumu would use; the landing points of his topspin and side-spin were both different. It was only the moment after Miya Atsumu spiked the ball..
The more experienced Midorikawa Aki made a judgment immediately, shouting loudly, "Topspin Side-spin!"
Upon hearing that, Matsuda dove straight toward where the ball was about to land.
He didn't know exactly how to handle a topspin side-spin, so he simply followed the coach's instructions and went for a diving back receive.
Anyway, Shiratori-senpai is there.
But the pass was far too wide; Shiratori didn't even bother going for it, so Midorikawa stepped in to cover the ball.
He himself retreated several steps, creating space for a run-up before leaping toward the net with a heavy thud.
Hinata's pupils contracted as he followed Oori Ren toward the center.
.. So high.
Short players can reach the sky above with excellent jumping ability, but it's not as if all tall players are bad at jumping.
Jumping puts a lot of pressure on their knees, but a one or two full-effort jumps won't make any difference.
His height of 1.93m combined with his jumping ability resulted in a contact point of nearly 3.5m, a height that completely surpassed Inarizaki's block.