Because of his own interests, he studied social sciences and similar subjects at university.
These things are indeed of no use to volleyball, he hasn't even studied his English general courses properly..
Aman, he was wrong.
He should have listened and studied English properly during his studies abroad!
Standing at the service position, Minka Shugo patted the volleyball in his hands against the ground.
They have now extended the lead to 4 points; Oliver's dominance in the front row is indeed something high schoolers cannot handle.
Especially since Inarizaki's current starting Libero is still a first-year, lacking in both physique and experience.
This number 10 is the same; you can tell many times that he lacks experience.
In a two-on-one blocking pattern, he basically spends the entire time watching the movements of the Middle Blocker beside him, or just focuses on a single position.
As long as the Setter uses more feints, he will simply give up on following the block.
It was indeed a very clever approach.
But.. it's still far from enough.
Inunari narrowed his eyes, sizing up Hinata as he rubbed his hands together.
If you want to defy the significance that height holds over volleyball, you must demonstrate a strength capable of contending with it.
It wasn't just about offense; one had to be the "best" in every single field.
The moment he heard the sound of the server hitting the ball, Unabara Uta shouted from the back row, "I've got it!"
After experiencing the onslaught of Leonard's serves, he has already found his rhythm!
Then, Miya Osamu watched helplessly as Unabara Uta went to receive an out ball.
The moment she received the ball, Unabara Uta also realized that something was wrong.
But since it was received, Atsumu-senpai hadn't seen it anyway, he just treated the ball as if it hadn't gone out.
“Atsumu-senpai!”
Unaware of what his Libero had just done, Miya Atsumu replied, "Great first receive!"
Minka Shugo pursed his lips.
Well, since there's no live broadcast, he definitely didn't make a mistake on that ball.
Inunari, standing by the sidelines, couldn't help but laugh. "That's really interesting."
Coach Sansou also laughed along, "It's normal, it's normal."
Professional players are more obsessed with scoring through serves, since everyone, including the Middle Blockers, performs jump serves, the service error rate in professional matches remains consistently high.
At the most extreme, there was a time when they lost the first seven points due to serve errors.
Coach Kurosu pursed his lips and shot a sharp glance at Unabara.
Unabara shrank his neck back and quickly stepped forward, preparing for a counterattack.
Miya Atsumu quickly sent the ball to Hinata, who was playing a flat spread at Position 2.
Hinata stared at the Black Jackals members lunging at him from both sides. Although the Black Jackals were also using a two-on-one blocking tactic, the ones converging on him at this moment were the 201 cm Thomas and the 207 cm Oliver.
With a block of this height.. he would absolutely have no chance of getting past it.
Miya Atsumu also knew this well, so instead of focusing on height, he focused on the ball's airtime.
He delivered a heavy spin serve from the baseline, risking a double hit, to ensure the peak of the ball's trajectory would coincide with Hinata's hitting point while providing enough hang time.
Hinata also seized the gap near the antenna on the right side of Oliver's block, executing a precise line shot with extremely fast arm swing speed.
"Ohhhhhhh—" Kumagai and the others immediately burst into cheers.
Hinata spiked the ball through the two-meter block, it was still a straight shot with such incredible speed!
Hirugami Fuku marveled, "That was a great opportunity to seize."
He was a Middle Blocker himself, so he knew very clearly how Hinata had managed to pull that ball through.
Hinata's ability to stay in the air was strong enough; he spiked the ball while it was still descending. In such a situation, a Spiker who specializes in the net would find it difficult to divert his focus to adjust the direction of the block.
However, Leonard's reaction from the back row was also very fast; originally positioned in the center, he dove straight toward the ball, reaching out to receive it with a dig.
"Beautiful!" Oda couldn't help but praise the play.
Oliver raised his hand to call for the ball: "Oda! Give me the ball!!"
That Little One just scored a great spike, so as a professional Ace, he absolutely cannot lose!
Oda also did not hesitate, quickly passing the ball to Oliver.
The previous few plays had already proven that the more technical the ball, the easier it was for these kids to neutralize; instead, extreme power could easily secure points.
Hinata and Ginjima lunged forward together from nearby, while Rishia Heisuke followed closely from a short distance away to cover.
Compared to Oliver, the two of them were simply far too short, so from the very beginning, Hinata didn't jump with the mindset of being able to block the shot.
At a time like this.. all he had to do was do his best to get a touch on the ball.
Oliver had no intention of going easy at all; his full-force spike slammed squarely into Inarizaki's block.
Hinata, who made direct contact with the ball, was knocked off balance and sent reeling backward.
Facing a heavy spike of this caliber, he didn't stiffen his body; his slightly relaxed state allowed him to stabilize himself the moment he landed, preventing him from falling.
But after hitting the block, the ball's speed didn't decrease at all, it slammed straight into the center of the back half of the court.
Moreover, because of the touch off the block, the trajectory of the ball changed slightly, its landing point was even further back than it was initially.
In a moment of panic, Unabara Uta adjusted his position backward, but it was already too late to perform a diving save, so he could only grit his teeth and maintain his previous posture to receive the ball.
The next second, his world spun, he was slammed to the ground.
Bang!
The volleyball slammed against the floor outside the court, making a heavy thud.
Unabara Uta fell to his knees, unable to get up. "I couldn't do anything.."
For a Libero, being tall or being short both have their own respective advantages and disadvantages.
Although shorter players may struggle with insufficient leg length to keep up with movement speed or insufficient arm length to reach the ball smoothly, their low center of gravity provides enough stability that they can often use clever technique to neutralize the impact.
And for a Libero like Unabara Uta, who has already grown to 183 cm, it is very easy for situations to arise where they fail to lower their center of gravity in time, directly resulting in their entire body being knocked over.
Of course, all of this can be improved through training.
For example, Yaku has trained to develop an ability to predict exactly where the ball will land, Komori's overall stability is also quite good.
However.. it was still a bit too far for Unabara Uta.
In the waiting area, Kumagai worked hard to cheer Unabara on: "Unabara, pull yourself together! Imai is watching!"
Unabara also really wanted to have a sudden burst of explosive energy and become the most eye-catching person on the court, but..
“Let her go back..” Unabara Uta said, unable to stand up.
Hinata, who had just finished blocking, clutched his hand and only looked up when Miya Atsumu rushed over in a panic to check on him, his expression looking quite pitiful.
“Are you injured? Let me see.” Miya Atsumu grabbed Hinata's hand directly, making him open his palm toward him.
Held by Miya Atsumu, Hinata silently made a grasping motion in the air, moving his five fingers to signal that he was fine.
Just as Miya Atsumu let out a sigh of relief, Hinata's voice rang out immediately after: "It hurts so much!"
Miya Atsumu's heart jumped into his throat again. Looking at Hinata's very red palm, he rubbed it for him. "Just pretend you spiked an incredibly cool ball; it won't hurt after a little blow."
After saying that, Miya Atsumu leaned down and blew on it for him. "There, all better."
Hinata was very cooperative: "Okay! It doesn't hurt anymore!"
Suna felt a bit of an ache in his teeth, but fortunately, Miya Osamu spoke up for him from the other side: "You guys are really too much.."
The two of them looked up at the same time, Hinata blinking his eyes, looking a bit dazed.
Anyway, that's how he usually coaxes Xiaoxia, so it shouldn't be a problem for Atsumu-senpai to comfort him like this, right?
Coach Sansou, on the other side of the net, didn't pay any attention to the situation over at Inarizaki; his attention was entirely focused on the performance of the Inarizaki players just now.
He turned his head and said to the other coach beside him, "That number 10 is truly impressive; his physical balance is incredibly strong."
The coach said, "Indeed, being able to stabilize his center of gravity in a situation like that just now—he is truly strong."
From clearly losing balance to landing and stabilizing his center of gravity, the entire process took less than half a second.
If the Libero in the back row could save the ball, he could coordinate with a Setter of Miya Atsumu's level in the front row to organize a Strong Attack.
The team coach followed up by asking, "Should we keep an eye on the back row?"
Coach Sansou nodded, "You can take a look, but for now, it's still far from enough."
Anyway, he currently holds a very high opinion of Miya Atsumu, the type of person he could interact with as soon as he returned.
By comparison, Hinata performed impressively in his strengths, but his weaknesses were truly weak.
Similarly, he also highly recognized Suna, but it was a pity that both of their starting Middle Blockers were in their prime and could play for at least another six or seven years.
For a player of Suna and Miya Atsumu's level, they wouldn't come if they couldn't be offered a starting position.
Anyway, the Black Jackals have a very broad way of recruiting people, whether it's through an outstanding performance in the future University League or by coming directly for assessments and trials after honing their skills.
Truly capable people will come before him no matter the circumstances.
After all, the Black Jackals have an all-encompassing variety of player types, they are also among the best in V1.
He believed that Hinata would be a high-priority choice for their future, though, of course, that was on the condition that Hinata could truly reach that level.
And as for such a future.. he is very optimistic about it.
Coach Sansou laughed heartily. "I'm really looking forward to it.."
Chapter 259: The Two Hundred and Fifty-Ninth Fox
Kumagai tried his best to cheer on Unabara, whose eyes had already lost their spark: "Unabara, come on, don't give up, you can do it!"