Shiratori clapped his hands: "What a devastating ACE serve."
This is a brilliant example that could be officially recorded by the tournament organizers.
When it comes to serving, Miya Atsumu has indeed reached a level that is almost flawless.
"That was amazing! Atsumu-senpai!" Hinata cheered along.
He wondered if it was just his imagination.
I have a feeling that Atsumu-senpai is exceptionally handsome today.
Chapter 180: The One Hundred and Eightieth Fox
Stay steady, stay steady, don't panic." Yaku said, clapping his hands. "As long as you can get the ball up, don't worry about precision or anything for now.
Kenma said nothing about this.
Most of the time, Nekoma can indeed provide a solid and stable first receive, but that doesn't mean they can do it every single time.
Facing the number one server in high school.. it's perfectly normal not to be able to provide one.
Of course, it's no big deal; he can just make up for it himself.
"A great serve, Atsumu-senpai!" Hinata continued to cheer for Miya Atsumu.
Atsumu-senpai's touch is quite hot today; he might even score ten points with his serves.
Yaku's expression remained unchanged.
To put it bluntly, Miya Atsumu's serve was essentially Dual Wield; if he were to try and force a Power Serve by jumping into a Jump Float Serve like he just did, he would actually find it quite unfamiliar himself.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to hit such a standardized Banana Ball, so standardized that he could tell exactly where it would fly just by taking a single look.
Moreover, the continuous expenditure of energy from serving is very significant, continuing it will inevitably affect the server's own condition.
As the defensive side, they only need to adjust their own state.
The whistle blew, Miya Atsumu tossed the ball into the air once again.
After scoring an ACE, Miya Atsumu also reined in his overly restless thoughts and turned back to continue using the jump float serve.
One reason was that jump floats had a higher scoring rate, but on the other hand.. if he continued to use power serves, there was a high possibility he would be hunted down by the Kita Team.
Staring at the incoming ball, Yaku shouted, "I've got it!"
The overall angle of this ball wasn't very suitable for a bump receive, so he also decided to challenge himself by opting for an overhead pass, a technique he wasn't very proficient in.
Fortunately, Miya Atsumu's jump float serve didn't have an extraordinary amount of power, so even though Yaku's overhead receive wasn't that practiced, it was definitely sufficient.
The volleyball was sent steadily toward Kenma's head once again: "Kenma! I'm counting on you!"
Kenma glanced around at Inarizaki's defensive formation, performed a fake set, then turned his head to pass the ball to Fukunaga Masahira in the back row.
Hinata stepped forward directly to stand in front of Miya Atsumu, preparing to protect him.
But this time, Fukunaga did not continue to target Miya Atsumu; instead, he spiked the ball in a straight line toward the gap in the center exposed after retreating toward Hinata.
Aran dove forward, reaching out to dig the ball.
The ball flew up and landed very close to the net, but Miya Atsumu was blocked by Hinata and had no opening to step forward at all.
"Save the ball!" Miya Atsumu shouted to Suna and Miya Osamu in the front row.
Miya Osamu found his position, intending to spike the ball straight down.
But Kuroo's reaction speed was superior, as he positioned himself perfectly and blocked the ball straight back.
The volleyball slammed into Inarizaki's court at an extremely high speed, Nekoma scored with a block.
“Nice!” the Nekoma members cheered.
Nekoma's specialties were blocking and receiving; this style of play, which used frequent attacks to create scoring opportunities for their own side, was the area where they felt most comfortable.
Akagi clapped his hands: "Don't worry about it."
The brains on the Nekoma side worked incredibly fast; the moment Hinata unconsciously adjusted his defense to target Miya Atsumu, he caught the opening they had left exposed.
Hinata stood honestly in his position.
Damn, once he got anxious, he forgot what Miya Atsumu had told him earlier not to worry about.
But at the end of the day, the setter is their soul, their brain; how could he possibly just let it go?
Furthermore, the reason Miya Atsumu told him to let it go was to prevent him from being unable to participate in the subsequent attack.
As long as he could guarantee that he could smoothly receive the ball and get back up to complete his subsequent positioning, then nothing would be affected.
Miya Atsumu naturally knew this as well, so he did not blame Hinata for anything.
One could only say that Nekoma's psychological warfare was indeed very precise, as they were able to accurately calculate their movements.
The serve passed to Lev Haiba, at the same time, a sound rang out from the sidelines, signaling a substitution for Nekoma.
Number 9, Teshiro Kyuhiko, replaced number 11, Haiba Lev, to take the serve.
On the sidelines, Rishia Heisuke asked Kumagai beside him, "Number 9? What position does he play?"
Kumagai answered immediately, "A setter, a first-year substitute."
That's right, he was a first-year setter just like him, which is why he had such a deep impression of him.
But as for what kind of serve it specifically was.. he really didn't have any impression of it, he hadn't seen the opponent in any match footage or practice games before this.
After exchanging the ball with Haiba Lev, Teshiro Kyuhiko walked toward the baseline while holding the ball.
Looking at Teshiro's position, Hinata, who was standing in front of Miya Atsumu and preparing to receive the ball for him, was making his guesses in his mind.
High set? Or low set?
Teshiro bounced the ball in his hands, waiting for the referee's whistle.
In the waiting area, Inugami and Shibayama shouted together, "Give us a good serve!"
Under Hinata's vigilant gaze, the referee blew the whistle and signaled for the serve from the Nekoma side.
Teshiro was quite patient, waiting until the eighth second before taking a sudden half-step backward, then tossing the ball up with his left hand.
Hinata's pupils contracted.
A low serve.
In the next instant, accompanied by a heavy striking sound, the volleyball flew into the air in an instant, almost turning into a black dot.
Hinata took a half-step back, raising his hands to prepare for the receive.
Miya Atsumu quickly circled around Hinata's side, preparing to move to the front row to set the ball.
The volleyball, which had already turned into a black dot, smashed down overhead; Hinata squinted his eyes, trying to minimize the glare from the overhead light.
The landing point should have been fine on his side, but this distance, this height..
Watching the ball gradually expand in his field of vision, Hinata had an ominous premonition.
The initial speed of a volleyball is already fast enough, but under the influence of gravity, it becomes even more terrifying.
The moment the ball touched Hinata's hands, he couldn't help but frown.
BANG!!
The volleyball flew immediately after, flying somewhat uncontrollably toward the back of the court.
Miya Atsumu was not surprised by this; he came to a near-instant halt in his stride as he was about to step forward, then chased after the ball out of bounds.
Fortunately, the ball didn't fly too far away, as Hinata's receiving form meant the ball would still fly high and straight.
Fortunately, Hinata did manage to reduce some of the ball's speed, which gave Miya Atsumu the opportunity to make the set.
Hinata shook his right hand and stepped forward, preparing to spike.
Miya Atsumu glanced at him, then quickly tossed the ball to Miya Osamu.
Kuroo followed up with incredible speed, leading Kashiinayuki and Yamamoto to form a block in front of Miya Osamu.
The greatest sign of respect you can give a spiker during an attack is to present them with a three-man block.
Of course, many times, the spiker himself does not want such respect.
Miya Osamu narrowed his eyes, instantly changing his hand shape, preparing to tip the ball over.
Realizing Miya Osamu's intention, the Nekoma members immediately pressed down, preparing to block the ball from above and kill it completely.
Miya Osamu also decisively pulled back at this moment, letting the volleyball continue toward the net along its original trajectory.
Kuroo's pupils contracted, as he realized almost instantly that Miya Osamu was planning to deceive them by hitting the ball over the net.
Relying on his experience and reaction speed, Kuroo forcefully pulled his hand back the instant before the touch.
In the next second, amidst a scene of utter chaos, the volleyball landed within the Inarizaki court.
Oikawa, standing by the court, was completely stunned: "What on earth just happened?"
The crowd in the stands hadn't clearly seen what had happened at all, the referee by the court was also frowning.
After a brief consultation, the head referee raised the flag, signaling a score for Nekoma.
"Tsk." Miya Osamu let out a soft click of his tongue.
Meanwhile, Hinata silently clutched his head and crouched on the ground.
As for what happened, it was actually quite simple.
It was simply that Miya Osamu tried to tip the ball over the net, but Kuroo saw through it, allowing the ball to touch the block following its original trajectory.
After being blocked by the net, the volleyball flew straight back into Inarizaki's court.
Hinata did react in time and rushed forward to prepare for the receive, but he was a bit too far away and couldn't make it in time, ultimately getting hit in the head by the ball.
The Nekoma members fell silent for a moment, finally Kuroo clapped his hands. "Alright, next ball!"
Hinata wailed, "Sorry—it was mine, mine!"
He had clearly reacted!
As expected, choosing a diving save would have been more stable at a time like this; he shouldn't have been so overconfident and gotten lazy!