After a slightly chaotic moment, Kanzaki took a step back, but by the time Higashiyama reached out, the optimal timing for the receive had already passed.
With a thud, the volleyball hit Higashiyama's arm and finally flew out of the court.
Kumagai scored on a serve.
"Yes!!" Kumagai cheered, pumping his fist, having never expected that he could score a point with a serve.
Oikawa Tooru grimaced by the sidelines: "You've been completely played, Kobe."
Generally speaking, as the Ace, Kanzaki should avoid being too aggressive when receiving, so as to maximize his ability to carry out attacks later on.
But Kumagai's serve had a bit of topspin side-spin, causing the ball's trajectory to appear slightly biased toward Kanzaki at the start.
Unfortunately, Municipal Kobe was visibly under pressure, wanting to score to solidify the advantage they had so hard-won at the start.
However, when it comes to scoring, the more you rush, the more mistakes you make.
The two from Higashiyama and Kanzaki, both wanting to give their all to do everything perfectly, collided with each other, nearly causing a missed receive.
Inarizaki scored three consecutive points, officially taking the lead.
Kuroo sighed, "They look like they're in total control."
This speed of overtaking seems to say—look, all your struggles are in vain.
Kumagai prepared to serve the next ball.
Higashiyama whispered soothingly to Kanzaki, "I'll do it, I'll do it. You just focus on the side quick attacks."
By delegating as much authority as possible to him, Kanzaki, as the Ace, only needs to focus on line shots during serves and the subsequent attacks.
Kumagai stared quietly at the Municipal Kobe members as they made minor adjustments to their positioning, his face showing no particular emotional fluctuation.
The whistle blew, he spun the ball in his hands once more, then suddenly tossed it into the air as the time limit reached the fourth second.
It was the same approach again, followed by a jump in front of the baseline, striking the ball with the center of his palm.
With a thud, the volleyball flew over the net in a non-spinning state toward the sideline next to Kanzaki, before suddenly dropping onto the court.
Hanae's overhead receive has indeed improved a bit, but that doesn't mean everyone else can do it too.
Especially for the first-year Ace, Kanzaki, whose training focus lately has undoubtedly been on his approach and his attacks themselves, leaving him with no extra energy to spend on training his setting.
Moreover.. even if he cannot score directly from a serve, he can still cause the maximum amount of interference to Municipal Kobe's subsequent attacks.
The offensive intensity of Higashiyama and Murata was on a completely different level compared to Kanzaki and the two Middle Blockers; as long as they could suppress the strongest offensive point, the only subsequent threats requiring marking would be the Quick Attacks from the Middle Blockers.
Captain!
The volleyball flew up and fell toward Wakamura's head.
Kanzaki's set wasn't particularly good, especially since the positioning was quite off, but fortunately, he consciously applied force to the ball, so it still gained enough height.
"Nice receive!" Wakamura rushed forward, jumping to deliver a back set.
Tosaka followed closely at an extremely high speed, the chemistry developed through years of cooperation allowed him to adjust to the best spiking state in the shortest amount of time.
Although Wakamura and Matou are childhood friends who grew up together, the two of them were not at the same school before high school; instead, for some inexplicable reason, he was on the same team as Wakamura during both elementary and junior high school, they were still together in high school.
If the chemistry between Wakamura and Matou was built upon their mutual understanding of one another, then he and Wakamura were simply.. well-acquainted from playing too much together.
However, no matter how fast the pace of Municipal Kobe's Opposite was, the prepared Inarizaki blockers still kept up and jumped to block in front of Tosaka at the first possible moment.
Oori Ren might not be as sharp-witted as Suna, but when it comes to physique and the solidity of his blocking, he is only stronger.
With a loud thud, the ball spiked by Tosaka was blocked directly back by Oori.
But the entire exchange happened so fast that Oori couldn't maintain control, the volleyball slammed down toward the sideline.
Wakamura, who had lunged forward, immediately raised his hand: "Out!"
The referee, who had lowered his head to inspect the play, gave the final ruling, signaling that Inarizaki's block went out of bounds and awarding the point to Municipal Kobe.
"Sorry," Oori Ren said, bowing his head in apology.
"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it." Aran clapped his hands.
Hinata pursed his lips, blinking as he watched Oori Ren lower his head.
As expected, Oori-senpai is really scary..
Kumagai returned to the waiting area.
Kita Shinsuke patted Kumagai on the back. "Well played."
Kumagai scratched his head; he was fairly satisfied with his own performance, at least.. he earned two points!
Rishia Heisuke gave Kumagai a thumbs-up: "Keep it up, get ten points next time."
Without a moment's hesitation, Kumagai raised his hand immediately: "Coach—"
However, Rishia Heisuke reacted very quickly, reaching out to cover Kumagai's mouth: "Wrong, wrong!"
Coach Kurosu chuckled, but he didn't call Rishia over.
The most important key players must be saved for the critical moments later on.
Murata's serve was unremarkable, it was once again quickly broken by Inarizaki.
Watching the ball being blocked back by the combined efforts of Oori Ren and Aran, Higashiyama frowned.
Suna's block was indeed terrifying, but Oori's block gave off a much more solid feeling, like a rock.
Standard plays can't create enough distance; we need to try some balls with a larger range.
On Inarizaki's side, Miya Osamu had already walked to the service position, clutching the volleyball.
Miya Osamu, who possessed even greater strength, delivered a power serve that was even more difficult to handle than Miya Atsumu's.
However, Hanae had some experience when it came to absorbing the impact, so without any special spin, it was still quite easy to handle.
"Great receive!" Wakamura sent the ball to the Ace once again.
The way an Opposite plays, the core of their role, is to maintain the highest level of trust in the Ace at all times, believing that no matter when they do it, they can deliver a spike to bring a score to the team.
"Touch!" Oori reached out to touch the ball.
Hinata, nearby, shouted, "I've got it!"
After the setter sent the ball out, Hinata rushed around the backcourt to the area behind Position 2, preparing to execute a back-row attack from Position 1.
Unabara, in the waiting area, couldn't help but feel emotional: "Shoyo is truly so proactive."
Kita Shinsuke smiled slightly. "Because he has gained confidence, he's requesting the ball more frequently."
With Hinata coming in to cooperate with the back-row attack, Miya Osamu did not move toward the center; instead, he took over the defensive duties that originally belonged to Hinata.
Jumping off one foot, Hinata spiked the ball down at an extremely high speed, perfectly shaking off the blockers while delivering a spike with topspin side-spin.
The volleyball hit Murata's arm and immediately bounced out of the court.
With incredibly fast reflexes, Hanae instantly rushed forward, using a diving save to barely keep the ball in play.
"Great save!" Kanzaki got excited as well.
They saved it, so they can continue the counterattack!
"Captain! Give me the ball!!" Kanzaki shouted, calling for the toss.
Hearing the Ace's call for the ball, Wakamura didn't hesitate for long and sent the ball directly to him.
It was still the position in Position 4 with the best view for a Spiker, it was also the place where Kanzaki played the most and felt most proficient.
Another leap with everything he had, another spike with everything he had.
The volleyball hit Miya Osamu's arm and then bounced out of bounds.
Hinata and Akagi started running after it at the same time, but the ball flew too high to be saved at all.
The whistle blew, Municipal Kobe scored.
"Yes!!" Kanzaki cheered.
As expected, the feeling of scoring directly with a spike like this is the best!
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines with his hands behind his back, couldn't hide the smile on his face: "Among this year's first-year spikers, Kanzaki, Kai, Hinata, Aoba are all players with immense potential."
The pure power-type Kanzaki, the more technical Aoba, Hinata, who excels in quick attacks and various opportunity balls with his more well-rounded abilities.
With Kai's performance as a Middle Blocker being truly in a league of his own, this year's first-year class can also be described as being full of talent.
"Yeah, they've all grown very quickly." Coach Hiya was also very satisfied.
These players have grown so much that they are almost unrecognizable compared to summer.
Whether they were once naive or lost, they have grown rapidly in the most suitable soil, perhaps it won't be long before they bloom and bear fruit.
As for those responsible for the harvest, they will likely be able to return soon, carrying a box of delicious, juicy fruit.
During Aran's serve for Inarizaki, Hinata moved to the front row.
The moment that orange head appeared at the net, everyone from Municipal Kobe instinctively heightened their vigilance.
Even though Hinata's presence is low when he is playing defense in the back row, he actually participates in the offense quite a bit.
Now that this guy has moved to Position 4 in the front row.. he'll likely demonstrate an even more terrifying dominance.
Feeling the wary gazes cast from across the net, Hinata, who had been communicating with Miya Atsumu using hand gestures, turned around and met Kanzaki's eyes.
Kanzaki took a half-step back as if facing a formidable enemy, while Hinata, feeling a bit confused, blinked, not understanding what had happened.
Just the feeling of the entire opposing team being on high alert.. it couldn't help but make him feel a bit happy.
Scoring points against such high-alert defense must feel incredibly rewarding.
Aran's serve was heavy and powerful, but the ball's trajectory lacked variety.
After accurately judging the trajectory of Aran's serve, Hanae received the ball.
"What a great receive!" Wakamura shouted.
He raised his hand and sent the ball toward the high point in the center.
Matou leaped into the air.
Hinata and Oori jumped simultaneously to prepare for the block, while on the other side, Miya Atsumu was further away, keeping his eyes on Kanzaki, who was alone on one side.
Oori's blocking height is terrifying, Hinata's follow-up block after his approach was also far above his hitting point.