The Interhigh Junior High tournament is highly anticipated this year, largely because Fukurodani broke the previous champions' monopoly.
His younger sister is currently in her second year of junior high, so he still has a very deep impression of this matter.
Saru Nagi, in the Fukurodani cheering section, waved his cheering sticks along, shouting the chants together.
[Number 7, Mokoba Akitsugu.]
The cheering from Fukurodani suddenly grew chaotic as the voices of several middle-aged men rang out: "Go for it! Yanyangtong Yangshen Laoshi!"
Mokoba snapped his head around, his eyes filled with accusation as he looked toward the stands. "Who said that! Come out here!"
It's already the Finals, so stop dwelling on such trivial things!
【Number 12, Osa Noboru.】
【Number 11, Libero, Komi Haruki.】
【Head Coach, Anromi Takeyuki.】
The Fukurodani members took their positions on the court, in the next moment, the cameras turned toward Inarizaki.
[Hyogo Prefecture's number one representative, Inarizaki High School.]
[Vice-Captain, Position 4, Owari Aran.]
Hearing that the first point wasn't scored by the Captain, the Fukurodani side breathed a sigh of relief.
That means Kita Shinsuke will not be replacing Miya Osamu on the court during the first set, so their strategy of draining Miya Osamu's stamina is still viable.
[Number 2, Oori Ren.]
[Number 7, Miya Atsumu.]
The moment Miya Atsumu stepped onto the court, the Inarizaki cheering also erupted, with screams rising one after another.
【Number 14, Rishia Heisuke.】 【Number 10, Suna Rintaro.】
【14, Rishia Heisuke.】
Watching the unfamiliar faces stepping onto the orange floor with tension written all over them, Coach Anromi's expression went blank for a moment.
Wait, where is Miya Osamu?
Why is the server coming up for this crucial point? What kind of tactic is this?
【Number 17, Hinata Shoyo.】
【Number 15, Libero, Akagi Michinari.】
[Head Coach, Kurosu Masamune.]
Bathed in the cheers of the entire crowd, Hinata stepped onto the court.
He stood tall, chest out, looking toward the judges' table on the opposite side.
This is the final battlefield.
He is ready!!
Chapter 216: The Two Hundred and Sixteenth Fox
During the rotation confirmation phase of the first set, Miya Atsumu looked at the initial positioning of the Fukurodani players, his expression remaining unchanged.
Just as expected.
Fukurodani maintained their usual Ace in Position 4 opening formation; if Inarizaki played with Miya Osamu as the Opposite, Hinata would be positioned directly against Osa Noboru.
Before the match began, they had already guessed that Fukurodani might choose a strategy to go one-for-one by using their first-year Middle Blocker, Osa Noboru, to face Hinata, so they had intentionally delayed Miya Osamu's rotation a bit.
Although Miya Osamu was in quite good condition after getting plenty of rest, the Finals were, after all, a best-of-five.
In such a long-term battle, even Inarizaki must ensure that their players have sufficient mobility.
Looking at the quite nervous Rishia Heisuke, Coach Anromi's expression was not good: "Tsk, we've been played."
Rishia Heisuke's appearances were not very frequent; most of the time, he would come on as a substitute for the Middle Blocker or Hinata to serve.
Although he would participate in offense and defense after serving, Fukurodani had not conducted any research on Rishia Heisuke regarding those aspects.
Because he didn't believe that with Inarizaki having Kita Shinsuke, Ginjima Yui, Kosaku, Miya Osamu, a whole bunch of other wing spikers and opposites, they would choose to field a freshman like Rishia Heisuke in the Finals.
No, it wouldn't be quite right to say that.
When they were studying Inarizaki yesterday, they had only heard from Itachiyama that Hinata had only been playing volleyball for just over a year and a half.
Coach Kurosu even dared to put such a person on the court and use him on a large scale; there was nothing he didn't dare to do.
Moreover, looking at Hinata's current level of offense, this number 14.. is very likely another formidable freshman.
However, the common weakness of first-years is that their experience with receiving and defensive blocking might be a bit lacking, so it should generally be no problem to exploit them in those areas.
Akaashi Keiji was naturally aware of this, so he merely glanced at Rishia Heisuke, whose forehead was slightly beaded with sweat, said nothing more.
The current focus is on Miya Atsumu's service turn; it's important to first ensure that the first receive and the counterattack can proceed smoothly.
Rishia Heisuke wiped away some sweat.
He was certainly nervous; after all, it was the national finals, he actually had the chance to be in the starting lineup for the first set..
Damn it, Coach's decision was a bit too sudden; he didn't even have a chance to call his mom and dad to tell them to watch him play—
It doesn't matter; he can copy the match footage later and watch it with his parents when he gets back.
As if sensing Rishia Heisuke's thoughts, Hinata, who was standing slightly further back on the other side, glanced at him.
Hinata raised his hand in a fist, making a cheering gesture toward Rishia Heisuke.
Rishia nodded to him, raising his hands behind his head to provide cover for Miya Atsumu's serve.
Since he had decided to watch with his parents, there was no possibility of him failing on the court.
His stamina and the uncertainty he presents to Fukurodani are his greatest weapons; he must make full use of these advantages.
Miya Atsumu lightly tossed the volleyball in his hands behind the baseline, his field of vision filled with the back of Rishia's and Suna's heads.
In the National Finals, after the basketball team was eliminated, the entire Inarizaki cheering squad gathered in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
After all, Fukurodani was a local Tokyo team, it was the first time in recent years that they had reached the nationals, so the school had also provided the maximum level of support to back the volleyball team.
Even though Inarizaki was fully prepared, because they were not the host school, the ordinary students' experience was limited, they were surprisingly a bit inferior when it came to cheering.
Meanwhile, Hoshiumi, who was sitting just behind the Fukurodani cheering section, listened to the surrounding cheers with a sour expression on his face.
He had originally come over here to escape the cheering from Inarizaki, but as it turned out, the cheering from Fukurodani was even more intense.
Those damn wealthy, aristocratic private schools.
He almost forgot that Fukurodani's scale was even more exaggerated than Itachiyama's..
Hoshiumi said to Hirugami with a serious expression, "Go back and ask the coach to arrange a practice match with Fukurodani."
Hirugami was stunned for a moment, rarely failing to keep up with Hoshiumi's train of thought: "Why do you suddenly want to play against Fukurodani?"
With a light click of his tongue, Hoshiumi's face was written with righteousness: "I want to see Fukurodani's gym for myself."
Their library is quite famous, isn't it?
Shirabu's face was full of longing: "I've always wanted to go check out Fukurodani's library; they probably have many rare collections."
According to the rumors, it sounds like a place where one could spend several months soaking away.
Kuroo crossed his arms over his chest and poured cold water on Shirabu with an expressionless face: "Then you won't have the chance, because you're graduating soon."
Before Shirabu could say another word, the whistle sounded, signaling the start of the serve.
Immediately after, Miya Atsumu raised his hand, calling for the Inarizaki Brass Band to stop their cheering.
But this time, it didn't have the effect of silencing the entire stadium; the cheering squad from Fukurodani on the opposite side was still shouting and cheering with all their might.
Oikawa Tooru had a face full of amusement, "Serves them right."
Letting this guy act cool every single day, he's finally met his match today.
However, Miya Atsumu didn't show much of an emotional reaction; he simply spun the volleyball in his hands quietly before tossing it up.
Taking four steps to approach, Miya Atsumu jumped from a distance away from the baseline, raising his hand to strike directly at the center of the volleyball.
Miya Atsumu's approach distance from the very beginning was four steps, so Komi Haruki was very clear that he was going to perform a jump float serve.
It's just that.. knowing doesn't mean you can actually receive it.
Komi Haruki has always performed very well when receiving heavy spikes and power serves, especially during the previous match against Shirabu, where he successfully received several of Kiryu Ya's spikes in good form.
On the contrary, his performance on dumps and counterattacks is mediocre. This slight lack of judgment also means that he can be targeted with unpredictable jump float serves.
Komi adjusted his position, tracking the trajectory of the ball.
But just as he raised his hands to receive the ball, the volleyball suddenly dropped just past the Three-meter Line, crashing almost vertically toward the ground.
The moment he saw the volleyball falling, he froze, completely caught off guard by that unexpected movement.
The volleyball grazed past him and slammed into the floor.
Inarizaki scored on the serve, the scoreboard by the court instantly jumped to Fukurodani 0:1 Inarizaki.
The Shiratori fans in the stands erupted into applause: "A clean, decisive point."
In the national finals, it was truly spectacular that Miya Atsumu could secure the first point for his team with an ace serve.
Scoring points directly from the serve during the opening almost lays the foundation for victory in the entire set, especially when Inarizaki has ample offensive opportunities..
It depends on whether Fukurodani can build up enough of an advantage while their Ace is in Position 4.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head back slightly, accepting the cheers from the entire stadium.
Atsumu-senpai is so cool!
In the boisterous arena, one cheering voice stood out above the rest.
Atsumu looked toward the sound and met Hinata's incredibly bright eyes.
There were no other emotions in his eyes, only slow-growing admiration and longing.
—Can I also perform serves like Atsumu-senpai's in the future?