Subsequently, Suna's hands were so sweaty that he slipped, causing his serve to hit the net and giving Fukurodani a free point.
Tsk.
Watching the volleyball roll to his feet, Suna gave a light click of his tongue.
However, his frustration only lasted for a moment. After tossing the ball back to the Fukurodani players, he turned and headed toward the Coach's bench to switch positions with the Libero, Akagi.
Akagi Michinari returned to the court, while Suna sat down quite rudely between Miya Osamu and Unabara Uta.
He ignored Unabara Uta, who was trying his best to diminish his presence, instead stared intently at Miya Osamu.
Miya Osamu stared straight ahead, treating Suna as if he were invisible.
Anyway, he wasn't the one who committed the service error, so Suna should be the one feeling guilty.
Watching the highly energetic Bokuto lead the crowd's cheering rhythm once again, Suna looked past Miya Osamu toward Coach Kurosu.
Coach, we can't let this set drag on any longer. If Bokuto-senpai rotates to the front row and gets another chance to score consecutive points, we'll never catch up..
Miya Osamu snapped his head back to look at Suna, his eyes filled with a hint of shock.
This guy.. is he trying to drag him down too!
Before he could say anything else, he saw Coach Kurosu nod. "Osamu, I'll be counting on you in a moment."
Suna turned back and gave Miya Osamu a deadpan thumbs-up, offering silent words of encouragement.
Coach Kurosu chuckled.
It wasn't because he wanted to see the commotion caused by those two kids that he decided to make substitutions; it was indeed time for a rotation.
For all players, a normal amount of consecutive matches played is two or three sets.
Especially after playing consecutive matches for several days, Hinata, Miya Atsumu, Aran, Akagi, who have all undergone heavy physical exertion, should all come off to rest.
Fukurodani also called up their substitute setter and substitute middle blocker, clearly making substitutions based on the situation as well.
However, in the current situation, Inarizaki still holds the advantage, the initiative to make substitutions also remains in their hands.
After all, the players currently on the court for Fukurodani are already their strongest starters; without gaining an advantage, they have no way to easily swap in substitutes.
The service right was handed to Aran at this moment.
Aran took a deep breath.
Rishia's serve was quite good, seeing it made him feel a bit blood-pumping.
However, his serve was not like Rishia Heisuke's, which could be adjusted or broken through at any time or place.
His power serve had basically taken shape through years of training; all he needed to do now was improve his ball control and use strength training to further increase his ball speed and accuracy.
Therefore, at this stage, his serve only needs to ensure that he can perform at the best of his ability.
Komi Haruki's condition was actually declining just as severely as Akagi's.
Both of them were people who had played through almost the entire Haruko period; the Libero, in particular, did not get to have half a match's worth of rest like the Middle Blockers did.
Facing Aran's power serve, Komi made another mistake, he was knocked off balance by the ball, falling flat on the ground.
Fortunately, Mokoba's reaction speed was fast enough; he lunged toward the ball and managed to save it.
Nice save! Spike it directly!
Watching the ball fall toward the net, Akaashi shouted.
At the net, Osa Noboru jumped directly, as the Inarizaki blockers rushed over, he raised his hands to tip the ball into the middle of the Inarizaki court.
Akagi made a save, but the ball's trajectory was slightly off; Miya Atsumu, being a bit too far away, couldn't reach it, so Hinata ended up setting the ball.
Hinata's set went to Rishia Heisuke in Position 4.
And this pass was exactly what the Fukurodani players expected, after all, it was common knowledge that Hinata only knew how to set to Position 4 and Position 2.
Rishia held his breath and raised his hand to deliver a heavy spike at the edge of the court.
Saru Yamato and Mokoba Akitsugu teamed up to jump for a block, but Rishia Heisuke's spike angle was so well-aimed that it forced its way past the side of the net.
Seeing that he couldn't catch the ball, Komi decisively extended his foot to dig the ball.
He used the side of his shoe to bump the ball, sending it flying back up into the air.
And because Rishia Heisuke's spike had sufficient power, the ball bounced up with enough height that Akaashi also had time to move in and adjust.
"Nice save!" Akaashi stepped back two steps and jumped to set the ball.
The ball went into the hands of Mokoba, who had jumped at Position 4, while Inarizaki's block was also closing in at the same time.
With two consecutive sounds of impact, Hinata glanced back and saw the volleyball fall into Fukurodani's court.
—Did they score on a block?
In the next second, the head referee, who had been looking down, stood up and signaled that the block went out of bounds, giving the point to Fukurodani.
Hearing this ruling, Mokoba breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, they didn't lose this point, otherwise they really wouldn't have known how to make up that point difference.
Moreover, the ball that Komi had worked so hard to save just now..
On Inarizaki's side, Oori looked toward Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu looked toward Rishia.
It was already unclear whose fault the block going out of bounds was, but the first person who could be ruled out was Rishia Heisuke, since he didn't touch the ball at all.
Coach Kurosu, watching from the sidelines, saw it clearly: "Atsumu! Block! Hands!"
You were right next to the boundary line! Can't you just pull it back instead of insisting on hitting it out of bounds!
Miya Atsumu shrugged his shoulders, taking back the blame he had tried to throw onto his junior.
Mokoba from Fukurodani received the returned ball, wiped away some sweat, moved to the back to prepare for his serve.
But just at that moment, the signal sounded from the sidelines.
The Head Referee signaled that Inarizaki had requested a substitution.
Everyone froze at the same time, turning their heads to see Miya Osamu standing by the sidelines holding the number 4 sign.
Aran relaxed completely in an instant, jogging to the sidelines to take his sign from Miya Osamu.
Although he was being substituted out, it wasn't because he had played too emotionally, but simply because the coach had granted him permission to take a rest.
Moreover, he wasn't playing as the Ace in this match, so he didn't have that much pressure.
At a time like this.. all one needs to do is choose to believe in his teammates.
Aran sat down at the Coach's bench with a sense of peace.
After quickly wiping away his sweat and taking a sip of water, he raised his hand to his mouth and shouted, "Good luck! Osamu, good luck!"
Alright, his mission for this set has come to an end.
Next.. it's time to watch the juniors perform.
Chapter 224: Two Hundred and Twenty-Four Foxes
Watching Miya Osamu, with his calm and composed expression, replace Aran to stand in the back row at Position 1, even Mokoba's expression turned sour.
Coach Anromi, standing by the sidelines, rested his chin in his hand and let out a low, guttural sound: "Hmm.."
While observing the situation on the court, Coach Anromi couldn't stop glancing at the second-year sitting beside him.
Sitting beside Coach Anromi, the substitute libero Saegusa Rio was clutching his pants, the tension on his face clearly visible to the naked eye.
Fortunately, the Coach didn't say anything, clearly intending to maintain the status quo for the time being.
Saegusa breathed a sigh of relief.
The cheers from the Fukurodani supporters rang out continuously from the stands: "Mokoba, give us a good high ball!"
Miya Osamu silently rotated his wrists and ankles, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to raise his body temperature a little.
This feeling of something being about to burst forth made everyone in Fukurodani feel nervous involuntarily, the one among them who was most unable to remain calm was the Libero, Komi.
Inarizaki's substitution this time was highly targeted, clearly aimed directly at him.
His comfort zone for receiving was spikes like those from Bokuto and Aran, which focused on ball speed and spin quality.
Because the overall offensive speed wasn't particularly fast, as long as he could roughly guess the landing area, he could always chase it down.
Relatively speaking, he still hated quick attacks and all kinds of tricky technical balls even more.
Hinata's solo quick attack could be handled by a Middle Blocker, but a Double Quick..
Given his own form in the first set today, he still had the confidence to handle it.
Being forced out of his comfort zone in this situation was indeed quite uncomfortable.
This Inarizaki coach is being a bit too cunning, isn't he?
Listening to the whistle blowing in his ears, Coach Kurosu smiled quite happily.
At this time, the substitution wasn't made solely for this reason.
Miya Osamu was also highly skilled at supporting the defense; even if Akagi wasn't in peak form, having both Miya Osamu and Rishia there would be enough to dampen Bokuto's current momentum.
In short, they should secure the first two sets first; even if they are overtaken later, they can remain undefeated while holding three match points.
Hinata was positioned very far forward at this time, leaving Akagi and Miya Osamu as the only ones responsible for the back row's first receive.
Given Mokoba's extremely poor performance on the last play, there was no need for Inarizaki to compress their formation to have three players receive; it was enough for the Libero and the Wing Spiker, Miya Atsumu, to cover half the court.
Underestimated by everyone, Mokoba tossed the ball amidst the jeers of the Inarizaki supporters, rushed forward to spike, then sent an unremarkable power serve flying over the net.
"I've got it." Miya Osamu stepped laterally, receiving the ball steadily, with an air of effortless ease.
What a great receive!
Miya Atsumu was extremely satisfied with the receive provided by Miya Osamu.
Watching Miya Osamu's composed state during the receive, Mokoba felt as if his serve had been insulted.
But there was nothing that could be done; that's just the result of a bad serve.
Wait, his serve wasn't bad at all!