Playing even more cautiously than the previous set, Kawanishi observed Miya Atsumu's setting movement. The moment Miya Atsumu's hand shape appeared, he took a step forward, lowering his center of gravity in preparation to jump for a Block.
But in the next instant, Miya Atsumu, who had originally prepared to make a forward set, sent the ball directly behind him.
Eh? Behind him?
Kawanishi Taichi's mind went blank, for a moment, he failed to react properly.
Because.. there was no one behind Miya Atsumu at this moment.
Inarizaki's spikers were all gathered on the other side, Unabara Uta's counterattack position was also close to this side, so it was literally empty.
The ball grazed the net as it fell, slamming into the ground on the Shiratorizawa side.
Goshiki Tsutomu, who had originally intended to follow up with a block towards Kawanishi, dove in the opposite direction and reached out with one hand to dig the ball.
As he crashed toward the floor, the ball flew into the air.
Coach Saito shouted loudly, "Great job, Akari! Cover!
Yura rushed forward, executed a fake set, then sent the ball back to Kanegawa.
Suna's expression remained calm as he rushed toward Kanegawa alongside Miya Osamu. The two of them jumped together, forming a solid block right in the path of Kanegawa's spike.
Not everyone can control the ball's trajectory as precisely as Goshiki while also possessing enough power to spike it straight down the line without touching the net.
Suna and Miya Osamu's block left Kanegawa with absolutely no chance to spike the ball through.
Gritting his teeth, Kanegawa prepared a Dump.
Suna reacted almost at the same time as him, pressing down with one hand; the moment the ball left Kanegawa's hands, he also touched the ball.
With a loud thud, the ball crashed to the ground.
Because of the obstruction from Kanegawa and Kawanishi, Akakura in the back row couldn't dive in time.
The whistle blew, Suna scored with a Block.
Great job, Rintaro!!
Nice play!
After landing, Suna looked toward Miya Atsumu on the other side.
Miya Osamu, behind him, also leaned out and made a zero gesture toward Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu's expression distorted instantly: "You two just wait!"
Did you see that?
Coach Kurosu, sitting at the Coach's bench, spoke to Nishizawa Hokuto beside him.
Nishizawa nodded. "I saw it. Unabara-senpai's receiving movement was very precise just now."
Coach Kurosu smiled and reached out to tap Akakura on the opposite side. "Then how would you receive this ball?"
Nishizawa Hokuto thought about it seriously but couldn't come up with an answer: "I don't know."
Watching his student's distressed expression, Coach Kurosu let out a hearty laugh, feeling the joy of a prank finally succeeding: "Of course not."
Hearing the coach's words, Nishizawa Hokuto was a bit dazed. "Huh? Not receive it?"
Coach Kurosu pointed at Kawanishi, who was being scolded by Coach Washijo so severely he didn't even dare to breathe heavily. "That ball is impossible to receive. Anyone in front of the Three-meter Line is considered part of the front row. If they can't receive it, you can scold them."
Nishizawa Hokuto stated that he didn't dare.
Hinata looked at Suna, gave him a high five, cheered, "As expected, Senpai is amazing!"
If it were him, he probably would have already committed a net violation.
Shiratorizawa had just completed three touches, Suna had already risen above the height of the net, so it wasn't considered a contact over the net.
If the timing of this process isn't controlled properly, it will result in points for the opposing team.
Hinata had also used this kind of feint to deceive several blockers.
Miya Osamu withdrew his gaze from Miya Atsumu and said to Hinata, "Shoyo, you probably can't do it."
Hinata froze: "I can't?"
Miya Osamu said seriously, "It's because you aren't tall enough; you have no way to press down on a dump from above."
Suna added, "And your arms aren't long enough either."
Now, the ones glaring furiously over there at Miya Osamu and Suna were two people.
Watching Hinata move to Position 4 in the front row with such a wronged expression, Rishia Heisuke said in a low voice, "Why did you go and provoke them?"
Hinata looked even more aggrieved: "I didn't do anything!"
Rishia Heisuke fell silent for two seconds, then lightly patted Hinata's shoulder, everything left unsaid.
He admitted that Hinata had done nothing just now, but he had made an essential mistake that could no longer be changed.
To share both glory and disgrace with Miya Atsumu—that was what Hinata told himself.
Looking at Rishia's complicated expression, Hinata secretly clenched his fists. "I'm going to start dreaming."
Rishia pressed, "What kind of dream?"
Hinata's tone was incredibly serious: "I'm going to become 2m tall, become a blocking expert."
Suna let out a short laugh, turned his head toward Hinata, said, "Good luck."
After glancing back at Miya Atsumu, who was feigning ignorance, Hinata finally turned his head toward the coach on the side.
Coach Kurosu lowered his hand from his mouth and gave Hinata an OK sign.
Hmm, once this match is over, he'll give Miya Atsumu a proper lecture.
A Second Attack is mainly about catching the opponent off guard. Since there was no cover from the spikers behind him, by attempting a Second Attack dump so directly, isn't he just giving the opposing team an opportunity?
Yanagita from the opposing team apologized repeatedly; in fact, logically speaking, he should have carefully observed Miya Atsumu's movement just now and then lunged forward to receive the ball.
If he could have protected the Ace's safety, there actually was a chance to score just now..
Goshiki Tsutomu waved it off: "It's okay, next ball."
Seeing that the advantage of the first service turn in this set had completely vanished, Coach Washijo, whose mood had plummeted to rock bottom, was still lashing out: "Yura! Your movement is too erratic! Focus!"
Yura Shota stood at attention, not daring to even breathe.
The Head Referee made a hand signal, everyone on the court quickly returned to their positions to prepare for the upcoming defense.
During Miya Atsumu's Service Turn, if their defense wasn't good enough, they would be completely finished.
Akakura took a deep breath, his gaze fixed intensely on Miya Atsumu on the opposite side.
Betting his status within the Shiratorizawa Team for the next year or more, he would definitely receive this ball!
This time, Miya Atsumu's setting movement was remarkably composed; he didn't choose to wait until the buzzer or hold it until the very last second, but instead acted immediately after confirming his touch was on point.
Because he didn't plan to continue with a Jump Float Serve, but instead intended to showcase his powerful Power Jump Serve.
Aran silently glanced back at Kita Shinsuke beside him, after seeing the smile vanish from the other's face, he slowly withdrew his gaze.
He pressed his hands together in prayer. "Atsumu, it's not that I won't save you, but just do your best."
Coach Kurosu raised his hands to cover his face, not wanting to watch Miya Atsumu's serve.
He admitted that Miya Atsumu's Jump Serve was quite excellent even within the entire high school circuit, his scoring rate was also quite good.
But the one he was facing now was Shiratorizawa's Libero. When Akakura was a first-year, Ushijima Wakatoshi hadn't even graduated yet; even if Akakura wasn't a regular back then, he must have certainly had contact with him as a practice player.
Akakura couldn't keep up with the kind of quick attacks they were spiking, especially those with such unpredictable trajectories, but theoretically, he should be able to receive a Power Serve quite well.
Yesterday, when Shiratorizawa played against Star First, Akakura did a great job of receiving the spike from Star First's captain, Arashiyama.
Choosing a Power Serve at this moment was actually not very wise.
But Miya Atsumu didn't care.
Since he chose to use a Power Serve at this moment, he must have ten thousand percent confidence.
Moreover, the opposing side had already received a whole set of his Jump Float Serve, he couldn't think of many new tricks in such a short time; overall, the pros and cons were similar to his Power Serve.
Then.. I'll definitely choose the cooler one!
A solid, heavy sound echoed as the palm made contact with the volleyball. Miya Atsumu's expression was one of pure excitement, his gaze cutting past the person and the net in front of him to lock onto Akakura.
Akakura's breath hitched as the ball reached him in an instant.
His body's instinct drove him to reach out, but in the end, he was just a little too late.
To be wary of Miya Atsumu's Jump Float Serve, his positioning was actually quite far forward; even though he deduced that Miya Atsumu might use a Power Serve, he did not adjust too far back, as he couldn't disrupt their subsequent offensive positioning too much.
Miya Atsumu's ball was aimed almost directly at the baseline, so the ball's trajectory was very high.
Since he didn't retreat, the ball was aimed straight at his chest, a textbook chest-aimed spike.
Akakura adjusted his movement slightly, but he was still hit in the shoulder by the ball.
The ball sent him falling backward, his vision spinning wildly as the ball flew directly over the net.
Before anyone could make a sound, someone had already rushed out.
From the waiting area, Shirabu shouted, "Spike it directly!"
Goshiki Tsutomu had just reacted and rushed to chase the ball, but Hinata was a step faster; by the time he jumped, Hinata had already leaped to his highest point.
Hinata smashed it down with one hand, reaching the ball a step faster than him.
The ball was spiked by Hinata, Goshiki only managed to touch the edge of it.
The volleyball changed direction and flew straight out of the court.
Kanegawa rushed to follow closely, but he still couldn't catch up, the ball landed outside the guardrail.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips, chin raised proudly, giving a thumbs-up to Suna, who was looking over, before ultimately pointing the thumb at himself.
Suna completely ignored him, instead turning to give Hinata a high-five: "Nice spike, Shoyo."
Miya Osamu echoed him, "Exactly. Some people don't even serve properly. If Shoyo hadn't kept up just now, he would have just handed points to the opposition."
Atsumu protested, "Hey! That's going too far!"
Aran looked back at Kita Shinsuke from the stands again, Kita's expression had returned to normal.