Anyway, the Right Wing could be left entirely to Shinsuke; he could handle the Left Wing all by himself with ease.
After the second change to the rotation chart, Coach Kurosu handed in the final version.
Looking at Miya Osamu wiping away his sweat, then at Miya Atsumu chatting and laughing with Hinata, Coach Kurosu's face was filled with relief.
Miya Atsumu's additional physical and strength training was truly timely; previously, after IH and the National Sports Festival, Miya Atsumu had been noticeably fatigued.
But with the Haruko schedule being so tight, the first person to run into stamina issues was actually Osamu, not Atsumu.
Because Hinata was being targeted, Miya Osamu, who had been forced to deal with several unreasonable sets over the last few days, couldn't help but roll his eyes at Miya Atsumu.
Looking at the rotation finally confirmed for Inarizaki, Kuroe Kao, who was preparing to serve, smiled with difficulty.
Good news, Miya Atsumu will be the last one to serve in this entire rotation.
Bad news, the opposing team's rotation changed drastically, completely disrupting their original plan.
Kuroe Kao forced himself to calm down, trying to steady his suddenly racing heart.
It's no big deal, it's no big deal.
They can just play according to the original plan. Although Kita Shinsuke's defensive ability is stronger than Miya Osamu's, his offensive power will decrease just the same, which is a good thing for them.
Especially since that Little One on the opposing side was just about to suppress their offense..
Kuroe Kao's serve was a soft tip, aimed specifically at Suna in the front row.
Suna failed to receive the ball, allowing Ichibayashi to take the first point of the opening.
But Suna, having anticipated it, did not give the opponent another chance for a direct point; after receiving the ball, he set it up for Miya Atsumu to organize the attack.
Aran performed a back row spike, but Nasu saved it.
Under the dual cover of Ouji Son and Rei in the front row, Kuroe Kao passed the ball to Hoshinoya.
Kita Shinsuke made a split-second decision to move from his original position toward the other end of the court, successfully saving the ball before it hit the floor.
According to the original plan, this ball should have been received by the Opposite, but.. Kita Shinsuke and Akagi would not let Hinata reach for it when they were in a position to receive it.
“Nice play!” Miya Atsumu shouted.
Kita Shinsuke turned his head to watch Hinata jumping at Position 4, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Indeed, his offensive ability was far inferior to Miya Osamu's, so all he could do was compensate in defense.
But.. that is enough.
Hinata will make up for that lack of offensive power.
Hinata, who has been completely liberated from his defensive position.. will become absolutely terrifying for teams with mediocre blocking and equally poor receiving abilities.
After the loud impact, the volleyball slammed heavily onto Ichibayashi's sideline, as Hinata's spike interrupted Kuroe Kao's Service Turn.
“Yes!!” he cheered, raising his hands.
Great, we have one point!
Coach Unabara couldn't help but clap his hands. "The offense and defense from both sides are both quite spectacular."
"Ichibayashi's setter is also very impressive; in terms of the adaptability and tactical control shown at this stage, he's not much different from Iizuna." Kumoita gave Kuroe Kao extremely high praise.
Moreover, compared to Iizuna, he might be a better fit for Ushijima. Let's get in touch after this Haruko tournament cycle is over.
The assistant coach also nodded. "Indeed, Hoshinoya is also a very strong attacker. Although it doesn't quite fit our team's current style, she is still a talent we can utilize."
Aran's heavy spike in the court was saved by Nasu, Kuroe Kao, who was already in position, delivered another perfectly executed strong attack from Position 4.
Akiteru!!
Kumoita nodded: "Beautiful setting."
Even if the first receive was a serious error, the setter was able to adjust, making it playable.
Moreover, although Ichibayashi doesn't use the Quick Attack very often himself, most of the time he only performs a back-set from Position 2 or a back quick from Position 3.
But in reality, their overall offensive speed is quite outrageous, especially during the setter's orchestration; because the ball speed is so fast, many times it's sent back in the blink of an eye.
In terms of visual impact alone, it always gives off the feeling of a "relentless bombardment."
By comparison.. Inarizaki seems almost gentle.
Watching Ichibayashi's style, which didn't resemble a Japanese team at all, Coach Unabara rubbed his chin, his sense of foreboding growing stronger by the moment.
Wait, who was Ichibayashi's coach again?
The assistant coach flipped through the player roster in his hands, after seeing a rather familiar face, he fell into silence.
Kumoita looked at him, a look of confusion in his eyes.
What's wrong? Why didn't you tell him after you saw it?
An expression of sympathy for Coach Unabara appeared on the assistant coach's face, then he handed that page to him.
The player rosters in their hands included photos, so when Coach Unabara saw that face and that name, his sense of foreboding reached its peak.
Coach Unabara almost broke down as he spoke, "Since when did she start coaching the Men's Volleyball team?!"
Silence fell as the two of them locked eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, Kumoita raised his hand to cover his eyes and crouched on the ground, unwilling to face this reality.
Ichibayashi's coach, who wasn't present at the scene, was an old friend of his; she was a Russian-descended ace from the former Brazilian national women's volleyball team.
As for why they know each other.. it was because when this person was coaching a high school women's volleyball team, she had poached two talents right from under the nose of the neighboring national women's volleyball team; one is now in the Brazilian Superliga, the other went to Argentina.
Looking at this situation, he felt that he wouldn't be able to keep those two from Ichibayashi either.
Most of the players on the women's volleyball team are from Shinzan Girls, so the loss of talent isn't very serious, but now..
They had just lost Oikawa Tooru, now they were about to lose a setter and a wing spiker.
After a brief moment of despair, Coach Unabara pulled himself together: "Starting next year, I'm going to stick with Iced Americano through thick and thin."
He was wrong; even if he had to forgo sleep, he wanted to watch as many Haruko IH semifinals and finals across all the prefectures as possible.
This feeling of discovering gold, but being one step too late..
It's too painful.
Chapter 210: The Two Hundred and Tenth Fox
The service turn passed to Suna, Coach Kurosu also replaced the key server without hesitation, sending Rishia Heisuke onto the court.
Because of the point Kuroe Kao took at the start, Ichibayashi still holds the advantage in the overall situation, they must find a way to break this balance.
As long as they can gain even a tiny advantage, they can shift from being the ones on the offensive to being the ones defending the lead; as the pressure decreases, they will naturally play more comfortably.
Even in the National Tournament, matches usually last until the final two days and typically go to three sets, but of course, it would be better if the match could be concluded even sooner.
Heisuke, serve an ace!!
With Hinata's loud shout, the entire Inarizaki cheering squad erupted into a frenzy of cheers.
The once orderly gymnasium instantly descended into a state of chaos, as everyone in the stands cheered with all their might to encourage Rishia Heisuke.
Taking a deep breath, Rishia Heisuke squeezed the volleyball in his hands tightly.
At this moment, his mind was not filled with any distractions, only with the scenarios he was simulating to score during the serve.
His gaze seriously scanned the members of Ichibayashi on the opposite side, finally locking onto the setter, Kuroe Kao.
The idea of playing it safe by only interfering with the setter was completely cast aside from Rishia Heisuke's mind at this very moment.
—If you're going to do it, you have to do it to the best of your ability.
Relatively speaking, the Setter has the lowest level of receiving, that covered position is also the place most likely to lead to errors due to unclear responsibility at the end of a play.
He only needs to ensure the ball's speed while adjusting his spike accuracy.
It is quite simple; after all, this is the absolute foundation of a Serve.
And he had practiced this for an entire year, refining every single detail with countless efforts.
So.. he won't make a mistake.
The whistle blew.
Amidst the countless shouts of cheering, he raised his hand and tossed the ball high into the air.
The volleyball rose rapidly into the air, then descended slowly directly in front of him, like—
A signpost.
The process he had practiced thousands of times would never go wrong; just like usual, Rishia Heisuke leaped forcefully from the baseline.
This was the only thing he could do at this very moment; he had to push it to the absolute limit.
After the loud impact, the ball struck unerringly into the space between the setter and the Libero on the other side, exactly where Rishia's plan had intended.
Kuroe Kao took a step back, making room for Nasu.
Nasu dove forward, barely managing to save the ball before hitting the ground.
But the ball flew ridiculously, looking as if it was about to clear the net.
Nasu's body, sprawled on the ground in a diving motion, had now become the greatest obstacle preventing Kuroe Kao from moving forward; he could only watch helplessly as the ball flew toward the net, with no room for any remedy.
Hinata stared at the ball's position, jumping up the very moment he judged that the ball was about to clear the net.
Hoshinoya on the opposing side refused to be left behind, jumping only a fraction later than Hinata, reached out to spike the ball.
But Hoshinoya's height was his greatest advantage right now; even though his reaction time was a fraction slower, he reached the peak almost at the same time as Hinata.
Because her arms were even longer, she was able to smother the ball from above, making it clear that she could directly smash it down.
Hinata stared at the ball, his field of vision containing only Hoshinoya's hand reaching down from above the ball.
His gaze suddenly shifted downward at that moment, because he was closer to the volleyball, he brushed it aside with a side spin.
The volleyball, carrying a lateral spin, was spiked almost parallel without making contact with Hoshinoya's hands, grazing the net as it dropped into Ichibayashi's court.
Rei had already moved up and prepared to attempt a block, having never expected the volleyball to fly in such a trajectory.
With a loud thud, the ball slammed onto the floor.