The height of this toss was also timed with great precision; it reached Kenma's hitting point almost at the exact moment it hit its peak and began to descend.
With a loud thud, Kenma's palm struck the volleyball straight on, using the weight of his palm to exert force and control the opportunity ball so that it had no spin.
Komori, standing by the sidelines, made the call: "Jump float serve."
This was his first time seeing Kenma play such a jump float serve; before this, Kenma had only used ordinary standing serves to target specific spots.
But it was true; given the current situation of wanting to target the front row setter, a jump float serve was indeed the most cost-effective choice.
Based on the situation from the previous set, if the landing spot is close to Hinata, Hinata will be the one to receive the ball.
If it's a line shot, Akagi from the back row will handle it.
But under the watchful eyes of the Itachiyama team on the sidelines, Miya Atsumu simply spread his hands to both sides of his body.
Iizuna froze for a moment.
Because according to his memory, the meaning of that gesture from the Inarizaki setter was..
The volleyball flew over the net with an unpredictable trajectory, suddenly dropping just as it was about to reach the Three-meter Line.
Miya Atsumu took a step back.
Oikawa Tooru, standing by the sidelines, stared with wide eyes, his face filled with an almost indelible sense of amazement.
—A perfect step.
After lowering his center of gravity, Miya Atsumu raised his hand, preparing to touch the ball.
The next second, the moment the volleyball touched Miya Atsumu's fingers, it bounced upward, falling toward a high point in the center.
That's right, the meaning of that movement was—no need to receive the ball.
"A direct toss for the first receive?!" Iizuna, standing by the sidelines, was dumbfounded.
Komori also expressed shock: "As expected of High School's Best Setter, such technical skill.."
Aside from high-arcing opportunity balls, setters basically wouldn't choose to perform a direct dump.
Standard spikes have too much power and speed, putting immense pressure on a setter's wrists and making it difficult to cushion the ball for a pass.
As for dumps and second balls, the starting point is simply too low. Looking at the entire Haruko, there is probably only one person capable of setting them, that would be Miya Atsumu.
Nekoma's playstyle could be said to have run straight into a brick wall.
Watching the ball already in flight, Miya Atsumu curled his lips into a satisfied smirk.
That's right, leave the heavy burden to him.
Even if this kind of ball is difficult to receive, he can still guarantee a high ball of sufficient quality at the very least.
Hinata just needs to focus on flying to his heart's content.
The speed of the entire combination attack was simply too fast; Lev and Yamamoto on the other side of the net had no time to react at all.
By the time they realized they needed to block, the player from the Japanese side had already spiked the ball with full force, the trajectory aimed straight at Kenma, who was moving forward after the serve.
Kenma instantly stopped in his tracks, while Fukunaga dove from the other side, barely managing to save the ball with a diving save.
Komori felt like his head was splitting, for some reason, he felt a phantom pain in his legs: "It's starting.."
He could see clearly that Hinata's spike was aimed precisely at the space between Kenma and the sideline, forcing Kenma into a diving save.
If it were any team with defensive capabilities not as strong as Nekoma's, their offense would have fallen apart almost immediately after that.
Because the situation was urgent, Fukunaga's pass wasn't very stable; it barely reached the area near Kenma's hitting point.
Kenma, who had quickly moved into position, leaped up and raised his hands to set the ball toward Yamamoto.
With both Miya Atsumu and Hinata in the front row for Inarizaki right now, their blocking skills being the lowest in the entire team, I believe we can just rely on the Ace at a time like this.
Yamamoto did not disappoint, his heavy spike landed directly on Miya Atsumu's fingers.
The volleyball flew high into the air, landing outside the court.
Akagi reacted extremely quickly, lunging forward with large strides while leaping to forcefully knock the ball back with the side of his fist.
Atsumu!
This ball could be described as flying directly parallel to the ground, but Miya Atsumu successfully predicted its trajectory, intercepted it mid-air, sent it toward the net once again.
Hinata and Suna quickly created a gap in their positioning, successfully drawing Yamamoto's block away.
After catching the ball, Hinata quickly lowered his eyes to glance at Kenma's position, then used his palm to lightly tip the ball.
In the next instant, the volleyball flew over the block and the net, landing by Kenma's side behind Lev.
The ball had backspin, causing it to drop at an unusually high speed, leaving no opportunity for anyone else to intervene.
Kenma frowned and reached out, preparing to receive the ball.
But the angle of this ball was strange, since Lev was a bit too close to it, his movements were severely disrupted, causing him to miss the ball.
The volleyball hit the ground, the moment it bounced, it nearly tripped Lev.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
“Nice play, Shoyo!” Miya Atsumu breathed a sigh of relief, raising his hand to signal a high-five to Hinata.
Hinata rushed over, jumping up to give Atsumu-senpai's hand a light high-five.
His face was full of excitement: "Atsumu-senpai, I got it back for you!"
Isn't it just about staring down the setter's spike?
He can do that too!
Miya Atsumu laughed heartily, feeling completely refreshed in both body and mind.
Yes, that's exactly what Hinata had told him before they took the court.
Usually, the targets they pressure are the Libero, but Yaku's ability makes it impossible to find an opening against him, so after being enlightened by Nekoma, he thought of targeting Kenma.
Especially since Kenma was outplayed for three full sets by Hayakawa Industrial in yesterday's match, Hinata learned from seeing it.
That's why he asked if Hinata and Kenma were really friends.
How could true friends torture each other like this..
Miya Atsumu fell silent, glancing sideways at Kenma, who looked somewhat surprised, but mostly delighted.
Is this guy a masochist too?!
No, he's just a gamer who enjoys high-difficulty games.
Sitting on the Coach's bench, Kuroo felt a bit of a headache.
The match against Hayakawa Industrial yesterday had already exhausted most of Kenma's stamina; if he continues to play like this today.. it might be quite bad.
Thinking of this, Kuroo felt a bit of regret that he hadn't just found a place to bury Hinata yesterday.
Both their Nekoma and the opposing Inarizaki's setter are primary targets for protection by their respective teams.
Targeting the setter under this level of defense is not something just anyone can do.
Nekoma had put a great deal of effort into this style of play, effectively shutting down one person in almost every match.
And over at Inarizaki.. it's basically just Hinata playing.
He was even relying solely on his own dominance in offensive height to secure his position, that almost vertical attacking angle.. it was even more impossible to defend against.
“Poor positioning, a high ball, a backhand, even backspin.. this little brat is just too ridiculous!” Oikawa Tooru felt his scalp go numb.
Just from this single play alone, he could see exactly what Hinata had learned.
What's even more critical is that he can flexibly apply every single one of them on the court.
This requires more than just simple single-skill or fundamental training; it actually requires stacking up practice matches like mountains, the opponents cannot be of poor quality.
Coach Kurosu watched Hinata from the sidelines with a smile.
Of course, they certainly wouldn't be lacking in terms of training matches.
Inarizaki's own second team is at least at a national level, combined with the occasional practice matches arranged with teams from Kyoto and Osaka, it is enough to allow their own players to integrate everything they have learned.
As for whether the results were good..
Just ask the people from Municipal Kobe and Nekoma and you'll know.
Chapter 179: The 179th Fox
“Atsumu-senpai, give us a good serve!” Hinata shouted loudly before quickly shutting his mouth, trying not to interfere with Miya Atsumu's serve.
After the referee blew the whistle, Miya Atsumu turned and signaled for his own brass band to stop playing.
He looked down at the volleyball in his hands, ready to toss it at any moment.
Oikawa Tooru, who had also put a great deal of effort into his serves by the sidelines, rarely felt the same way as Miya Atsumu.
Nekoma's first receive is truly a nightmare..
This defensive positioning clearly looked full of holes, but because the defenders were Yaku and Fukunaga, there was simply no way to exploit them.
But at the same time, the person responsible for the serve was none other than the currently recognized best server in high school, Miya Atsumu.
In terms of serving, he was equally proficient with both ACE serves and jump float serves, he would not fall into a disadvantage even when facing Nekoma's first receive.
At the seventh second, Miya Atsumu suddenly tossed the ball up.
It was still a jump float serve, but this time the ball dropped the moment it cleared the net, aiming straight for the space between Yamamoto and Lev in the front row.
I'll get it!" "I've got it!
Yamamoto and Lev shouted out almost at the same time, but in the next second, it seemed as if they were certain the other would receive the ball, so they both pulled their hands back simultaneously.
The volleyball dropped between the two of them.
The whistle blew, Miya Atsumu scored an ace on his serve.
"Nice serve, Atsumu-senpai!!" Hinata was even more excited than Miya Atsumu himself, who had just served.
This was their first ace! And they had even taken it from the Nekoma players!
That's incredible!