The next second, accompanied by the sound of a heavy spike, the volleyball suddenly dropped, plummeting toward the Inarizaki court.
Kumagai dove for it, but he couldn't reach it.
On the other side of the net, Shimizu and Shiratori landed simultaneously, completely blocking the spike; a joyful smile rose on Shiratori's face as he executed a change-up spike.
—I guessed it.
None of the Inarizaki members look like the type who would play by the book.
In the stands, Iizuna covered his face with his hands. "Sometimes, every single step being unconventional is actually what makes it predictable."
No, it would be more accurate to say that it's quite impressive that the two of them can be on the same wavelength.
Sakusa pondered, "An unconventional variable.."
Then Hinata must be an unconventional variable.
The former is predictable, but the latter is impossible to guess.
This was also why they had previously tried to deduce Hinata's movements from Miya Atsumu, but the results were indeed limited.
Amatori suggested, "If we take out Hinata before Haruko, Inarizaki won't have any new tricks left."
Agatsuma finally spoke: "Violence is no good."
Amatori wrapped an arm around Agatsuma's neck: "Enough, stop complaining."
Watching Fukuda General once again accurately track down Aran and touch the ball, Hakuma was deeply shocked: "How did he guess that? Is it intuition?"
Karassuno still uses a lot of close blocks, Fukuda General actually does as well, but they have unexpectedly started using predictive blocking with high frequency since the start of this set.
Hoshiumi shook his head: "It shouldn't be a guess, it's more like.. he deduced it using his memory and observation skills."
Once you have completely analyzed the opponent's situation, you really can play like that.
I've learned my lesson; I'll try that next time.
After gaining an advantage in the opening set through a strategy of blocking and switching setters, Fukuda General decisively scaled back and began focusing more energy on their overall defense.
They didn't do anything beyond their capabilities, focusing on ensuring they made contact with the ball and then launching a counterattack.
Even though the frequency of effective scoring wasn't high, it still prevented Inarizaki from scoring consecutive points.
Miya Atsumu was feeling quite irritable.
No, he needs a chance to overtake them in one breath.
But his own offensive level was mediocre, so he could only rely on Kumagai's sets to execute a Quick Attack.
Ginjima's movements were easily targeted by the blockers, Suna's spikes were almost entirely read, even the ace, Aran, lacked the strength to overcome the situation.
Tsk, it's all Osamu's fault.
"Aran!" Miya Atsumu jumped and sent the ball back to Aran's hands.
Aran had a massive headache.
He admitted that the feeling of having everyone's trust was exhilarating, but being forced to face the country's top three blockers was painful enough.
He tried to force a spike through, but the Libero still managed to chase it down.
Midorikawa stepped forward to set the ball, delivering it into Shiratori's hands under Kuroo's cover.
Shiratori did not hesitate for long, staring at Kumagai's fingers in his field of vision before spiking the ball down.
The volleyball flew off, the nearest Miya Atsumu sprinted after it, raising his hand to back set the ball back into the court.
Kuniharu!
"Give me the ball!!" Aran called out for the toss once again.
No matter the situation or the circumstances, as the Ace, he must spike every single ball to the floor.
The block came down from above once again, the receive, which left little time for a reaction, gave Aran no opportunity to execute a technical play.
The line spike was forcefully popped back by an arm, the Inarizaki members, who had just retreated to save the ball, were unable to get back on defense in time.
Fukuda General scores on a block.
18:16, the serve turned back to Fukuda General.
Hoshiumi Hikari frowned slightly in the stands: "They aren't giving Inarizaki a single chance to score consecutive points."
Hirugami nodded in agreement: "The score gap is small; once they are overtaken, it will be difficult to handle."
This tactic of taking the lead through strong attacks and then maintaining defense is also a common strategy; Inarizaki played this way during the first two sets.
Hirugami rubbed his chin, scanning the entire arena: "I suppose it's a case of fighting fire with fire.."
When he looked toward the Inarizaki coach's bench, his voice suddenly caught in his throat.
Hakuma Mebuki also noticed that side: "Ah, he's back."
Miya Atsumu was still briefly reviewing that last play on the court.
Pay attention, you can't set the ball like this," Miya Atsumu raised his hand to demonstrate to Kumagai. "When the reception isn't perfect, it doesn't matter whether you can shake off the blocker or not; you must keep the ball high and steady, don't let it drop.
Ensure the spiker has a clear view, give them plenty of time to hit the ball, leave the rest for the spiker to handle themselves.
Kumagai nodded: "Understood."
He had been a little too impatient.
But it was true; he couldn't manage to provide perfect sets even when others' receives were out of position, the way Miya Atsumu could.
Aran narrowed his eyes. "Is Taiyo playing over there? That Atsumu guy is actually trying to be a good senpai.."
Beep—
The sudden sound of the notification made even Miya Atsumu, who was just about to coordinate the next attack with Kumagai, freeze for a moment.
His depleted stamina had caused his brain to slow down, it took him a full half-second of being stunned to realize it was just the notification for a substitution.
Hmm? A substitution?
Generally, substitutions are made during the service rotation, but Fukuda General just scored, so why the sudden change..
The moment Miya Atsumu turned his head, Aran's voice rang in his ear.
Ah, the sun is coming out.
The boy with the bowl cut stood quietly by the side of the court holding the number 5 sign, his expression exceptionally calm.
Ginjima breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his face, walked toward Hinata, taking the sign with his own number from his hands.
Biting his lip, Ginjima gripped Hinata's hand tightly. "I'm counting on you."
Hinata's voice was firm and full of energy: "Leave it to me!"
Watching Hinata, who had walked past Kumagai and Suna to take his place in Position 4 after high-fiving Miya Atsumu, Shiratori frowned.
He truly liked Hinata and loved watching his playing style, but right now.. he couldn't feel happy at all.
Shiratori put his hands on his hips, a somewhat strained smile on his face: "The rising sun, the breaking dawn."
Kuroo leaned on his knees, finally unable to help but snap at his childhood friend, "That's enough.. I'm going to hit you.."
Wake up, describing yourselves like that makes you sound like a pitch-black night.
Oh, their uniforms are certainly black enough.
Kazama serves.
Despite Hinata having more or less flaws in various techniques, just standing there, he somehow manages to give off an inexplicable sense of intimidation.
After all, Hinata's return meant that their predefined conditions now had to include the element of Inarizaki that changed the most.
—Quick Attack.
While the blockers hesitated, Aran in the back row had already scored with a spike, covered by the double quick from Hinata and Suna.
18:17, the serve passed to Suna.
The substitution signal sounded, Rishia Heisuke replaced Suna to serve.
Hoshiumi raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are they finally bringing on the key server?"
To wait until this moment.. he's planning to end the match in one fell swoop.
"Heisuke, give them a good serve!" Kumagai and Hinata shouted at the same time.
Taking a deep breath, Rishia Heisuke quietly waited for the referee to blow the whistle.
There was nothing to fear; he was not standing here alone, as Hinata and Kumagai were both cheering him on.
Aiming for Matsuda's right side, Rishia Heisuke tossed the ball into the air at the very last second of the service time limit.
The strategy of targeting the opponent's Libero through the first receive had been in effect from the very beginning, but since Matsuda's condition and the Inarizaki members' condition declined almost simultaneously, not much of an effect could be seen.
But the person standing on the court to serve was Rishia Heisuke, who still had plenty of stamina and didn't even need to worry about the rest of the match.
His only task was to serve, so.. he would score!
A four-step approach, a jump, a full-power spike.
Bang—
The volleyball slammed down like a cannonball. Matsuda reached out to receive it, but the heavy ball knocked him to the ground.
The score jumped to 18:18, as Inarizaki scored consecutive points to tie the game.
"Yes!!" Rishia clenched his fist tightly.
Unabara, standing by the sidelines, expressed his satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad at all. I'd estimate that ball speed is already over a hundred."
Even looking at the entire high school level, he is considered among the elite, let alone being only a freshman.
However, Rishia Heisuke's second serve failed to score, Fukuda General scored on a counterattack, turning the serve over to Shiratori.
Akagi Michinari dove to save Shiratori's powerful serve, sending the ball toward the front row attack line.
Staring at the position of the volleyball, Hinata quickly rushed toward Position 4, preparing to jump.
In this set, he played in the left wing, which is the ace position in a traditional wing spiker formation.
Similarly, he must seize the opportunity to break through from Position 4.
Miya Atsumu, having already rushed under the ball, leaped up with a thud, raising his hand in preparation to spike.