His tone shifted immediately after: "However, Ogihara's performance was already very good, but it's tough when his stamina can't keep up. If it were Yukihito, he definitely wouldn't have that problem."
Hirugami Yukio smiled. "You have a lot of confidence in me, Hikari-kun."
Hoshiumi crossed his arms over his chest and let out a huff. "Of course. You're the strongest Middle Blocker in high school right now, aren't you?"
Tokura rotated to the back row, during this rotation, Coach Kurosu chose to substitute Kumagai for him to serve.
Patting the empty seat beside him to signal Tokura to sit down, Coach Kurosu quietly watched the situation on the court.
Right now, Inarizaki holds the advantage; as long as they stabilize the situation, they will inevitably be able to secure set point first and end the match.
But under the intense offensive threat of Itachiyama, defending the lead is meaningless; besides, they wouldn't be able to hold it anyway without Unabara Uta.
What they needed to do was launch even more intense counterattacks, doing everything in their power to score points and ensuring that Itachiyama wouldn't catch up from behind.
This match would not tolerate even a single mistake.
Kumagai spun the ball in his hands, tossing it up in the final second before the serve time limit.
He stepped forward, leaped steadily in front of the baseline, put all his strength into spiking the ball toward the side of Sakusa in the back row.
Itachiyama's current three-person receive formation is difficult to target, making Sakusa the best option by comparison. If he can use his serve to force Sakusa into a receive, it will definitely impact Itachiyama's subsequent offense.
As for Sakusa's ability to receive and spike his own serve? Kumagai felt that Sakusa couldn't do it.
With a heavy thud of a spike, the ball flew over the net almost instantly, crashing toward the edge of the court near Sakusa's side.
Sakusa decisively lunged to the side on one leg, dropping his knee to the floor to receive the ball with his forearms.
His entire body jolted slightly backward from the impact of the ball, but using the support and feedback from the floor, he still managed to control the ball.
Watching the ball fly toward the front row, Sakusa felt a bit irritated.
In the previous set, they had faced off against Kumagai, he was well aware of Kumagai's physical strength. There was a clear difference in strength between him, who was not particularly strong, Kumagai; he wasn't confident that he could control the ball while his center of gravity was so high.
That Number 3 clearly knew this as well, which was why he aimed for the open space at his side.
This feeling of having one's weakness exploited.. it's quite terrible.
Inamoto raised his hand and set the ball to Ishikawa Takuto.
Inarizaki's front row had a complete three-man block, which could be considered the strongest Inarizaki had right now. Under these circumstances, he didn't think Ogihara would be able to break through the opponent's defense; by comparison, Ishikawa, who performed better in terms of technical plays, was the superior choice.
Facing Inarizaki's Iron Wall, Ishikawa jumped with determination.
As a Wing Spiker being specifically trained, as Sakusa's successor, he must step up when the Ace is unable to move forward.
He wants to score!
Ishikawa's gaze locked precisely onto Miya Osamu's fingers.
Because Kumagai's power was too great, Sakusa's initial absorption of the force was incomplete, which indirectly caused Inamoto's pass to have a higher speed than expected, his jumping rhythm was adjusted accordingly.
But Inarizaki clearly failed to adjust in time; Miya Osamu, being the furthest away, jumped slightly late and hadn't had time to press the ball down, which gave him the opportunity to tool the block.
Ishikawa tipped the ball, controlling it to strike Miya Osamu's fingers with precision.
With a loud thud, the ball bounced high into the air under Ishikawa's full-force spike and landed outside the court.
Watching the trajectory of the ball as it flew away, Ishikawa's face went visibly pale as he watched it fall.
He looked at Miya Osamu, whose expression was slightly distorted due to his strike, with a hint of disbelief, a spark flickered between the two as they locked eyes.
Damn, this guy's reaction speed is just too fast!
He intended to spike the ball directly into the stands, but Miya Osamu actually used his own reaction speed to forcibly adjust his form. This caused the angle of the ball from the tooling the block to be lower than expected, an angle that, in theory, could be saved.
But Inarizaki's Libero isn't on the court right now, with that number 3 player positioned in the center, if the diving isn't skilled enough, he probably won't be able to make it in time..
Before Ishikawa could finish processing the thoughts in his head, Miya Atsumu, who had already landed after the block, rushed out from the other side, sprinting with all his might toward the ball's position.
The next second, Atsumu jumped suddenly, turning his back to the court and using his hand to send the ball back.
Bang!
A solid thud rang in his ears, Hinata knew that Miya Atsumu had saved the ball.
The ball flew rapidly through the field of vision, soaring to a height where it was almost invisible before crossing the entire court and falling toward the other side.
Miya Atsumu's voice rang out loudly immediately after: "Save it!"
The situation was critical, he had no time to absorb the impact of the ball, but.. he trusted his teammates.
Hinata decisively turned around and sprinted toward the far side of the court, after confirming the height was appropriate, he suddenly turned, leaped, raised his hands to prepare for the touch.
The overhead lights were a bit dazzling from this angle, but they wouldn't interfere with his judgment of the ball.
Indoor volleyball doesn't require him to worry about things like wind speed, so he has plenty of energy to focus on the act of "setting" itself.
The primary parts used for setting are the fingers, specifically the thumb, index, middle fingers; the remaining fingers merely serve to restrict the volleyball's position and wrap around the ball.
In that moment of contact, he needed to absorb the ball's own force by channeling it through his wrist and into his arm, use the touch of his fingers to change the ball's rotation, allowing it to fly to the exact position he intended.
This is difficult.
The more he practiced setting, the more he admired all the setters he had encountered in his past life.
Even after practicing so diligently for so long, he could only provide a ball that was "spikable," let alone.. the conditions of this ball itself weren't even good enough.
But he had to do it; he had to get the ball to the net, or at the very least, give the ball that Miya Atsumu had worked so hard to save a chance to be countered.
As the volleyball flew past his field of vision, Hinata caught a glimpse of Miya Atsumu rushing toward him.
There wasn't much to think about; just like in regular practice, he just needed to set the ball.
He delivered the set, the rest.. he'll leave to the Spiker.
The moment the sound of a touch occurred, Hinata forcefully popped the ball back up. It flew back toward the direction it came from, but it lacked its original speed and height.
The ball was very gentle, like a dandelion drifting down, appearing so peaceful amidst the extreme intensity of the court's rhythm.
—This was a pass with absolutely no technical skill involved.
Komori slightly rose onto his tiptoes, staring at the trajectory of the ball, while mentally simulating Inarizaki's possible reaction.
Hinata's set was very close to the net; a back row spiker jumping from behind the three-meter line wouldn't be able to reach this position.
In this rotation, the only players in Inarizaki's front row capable of attacking were Suna and Miya Osamu, since Hinata had just made his second touch, it was impossible for him to provide cover from the back row.
Miya Osamu's balance had just been disrupted by Ishikawa, so he didn't have enough time to pull back for a sufficient approach run; besides, Hinata's pass was clearly not intended for Position 4.
The one performing that spike would be Suna—no, could it be Miya Atsumu, who might have made the first touch?
But from that position, Miya Atsumu wouldn't be able to make it in time..
The moment the results automatically calculated in Komori's mind, a figure had already sprinted back from outside the court, jumping from a high point by the Position 2 marker on one foot.
Koldorf and Ishikawa in the front row had already jumped with the ball, but that person rushed toward it almost parallel to the net, raising his hand to spike the ball while his body was oriented completely toward Inarizaki's Position 4.
Given his spiking posture, the ball might have been a Line shot, but as it actually entered the court, for the Itachiyama players..
With a heavy thud, the ball flew past the entire block, grazing the top of the net at a very sharp angle and crashing toward the edge of Itachiyama's front row.
Inamoto's brain couldn't react in time over there; his body simply acted on instinct, driving him to reach out and touch the ball.
The sound of impact occurred again, the ball immediately flew out of the court.
Sakusa rushed after it, but.. it was too late.
A piercing whistle blew, a dazed Komori widened his eyes, casting a gaze toward Miya Atsumu on the opposite side of the net, as if being jolted awake from a dream.
The score jumped to Inarizaki 16:13 Itachiyama, the gap was further widened.
An incredibly enthusiastic cheer erupted from the Inarizaki stands, nearly blowing the roof off the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium.
Miya Atsumu's chest heaved violently; the recent sprint had left his breathing somewhat ragged.
Fortunately, the match entered its final time-out, giving him a chance to adjust.
Watching the players from both sides return to rest near the Coach's bench, Hoshiumi clicked his tongue in the stands: "They're using the Setter like a Libero.."
Asahina praised sincerely, "That was amazing."
Hirugami nodded. "Itachiyama is completely on the defensive now, and.. I doubt they'll get another chance to counterattack."
In the previous set, Inarizaki had a significant early advantage, but Itachiyama managed to catch up from behind and eventually took the lead.
But that was based on the fact that the Itachiyama players were in great form, Inarizaki was experiencing some slight issues with their coordination.
Now Inarizaki has pulled ahead by three points again. The match is more than halfway through, both Miya Atsumu and Hinata are in good form.
On the contrary, Komori's reactions had clearly become noticeably slower just now.
In this three-set tug-of-war, Komori, who likely had the highest physical workload, was probably the first to fall behind.
Seeing the situation improve, Nishizawa let out a sigh of relief in front of the tablet, finally saying with a face full of shock, "Unbelievable. How did he turn a set with no ball control into a quick attack short diagonal?"
In his impression, although Miya Atsumu was formidable, executing such high-difficulty technical plays was not within the opponent's specialty.
Unabara Uta said softly, "It's probably.. absolute trust, like believing the other person won't let them down."
After a pause, he added another sentence: "It's terrifying."
And the person himself didn't find this trust to be something that inspired fear.
Watching Miya Atsumu sit at the Coach's bench drinking water to recover, an extremely excited Hinata continued to chatter, "Akuma, you were so far away just now, I thought that ball was a lost cause, but seeing Atsumu-senpai land and chase after it, I suddenly felt there was still a chance.."
Hinata crowded closer to Kumagai again. "Akuma, that ball I just gave was pretty good, right? I feel like I've reached a fifth of Atsumu-senpai's level!"
Kumagai dutifully acted as his hype man: "It was great, feels even better than me."
He was telling the truth; although Hinata's setting skills are still quite immature, if it had been Miya Atsumu in that situation, he might have chosen to strike the ball.
First, he didn't have enough speed to keep up, second, given the ball's velocity, even if he jumped, he might still miss it.
Listening to Hinata's voice, Miya Atsumu frowned.
It was starting again—that state where Hinata becomes so talkative when he's both exhausted and excited.
Itachiyama was as troublesome as ever; without exerting their full strength, they wouldn't be able to secure a stable victory, not to mention that Unabara Uta's injury had placed even more pressure on everyone.
Moreover, even with the advantage, they cannot afford even a shred of relaxation; they must maintain this state to continue, otherwise, there is a high possibility that Itachiyama will exploit any weakness.
However, it shouldn't be a big problem. There will be a lunch break after the morning matches, the Third-place match starts first in the afternoon, while the Finals of five sets won't start until much later.
Hinata didn't need to do any tactical preparation; he could just sleep soundly on a makeshift bed in the locker room..
Thinking of this, a voice suddenly rang in Miya Atsumu's ear: "Atsumu-ge, are you.. alright?"