Touch!
While offering praise, Miya Atsumu retreated to prepare for the follow-up attack: "Beautiful!"
Suna glanced briefly at Miya Atsumu, then immediately stepped back to create distance for his approach run.
He spoke calmly, "Give me the ball!"
Miyazaki looked at Suna with a face full of shock, imperceptibly moving half a step closer to his position.
Miya Atsumu withdrew his gaze from Suna, raised his hand, gave a light push to pass the ball to Hinata, who was playing a back-row attack under Miya Osamu's cover.
Suna had already diverted part of the blockers' attention, with the cover from the front row, Hinata was spiking almost over an empty net.
When Hinata performs a Line spike, the ball's speed is among the top tier for high school players; by the time the ball slammed into the ground, Uehara on the other side had only just started moving.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scored again.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Hinata, who had just landed on the ground, slowly raised a single finger.
Having just raised his hand, Hinata quickly realized something was wrong and added two more fingers.
Three points!
A roar of cheers erupted from the stands: "Great play, Shoyo!!"
“So cool, Ace—!”
In the stands, Inamura rested his chin in his hands and couldn't help but say, "I feel like Miya Atsumu wants to work his family's Ace to death."
“Not only does he have to perform strong attacks from Position 4 in the front row, but he also has to cover for Miya Osamu and the others with quick attacks and open sets, now he's being used more and more in back-row attacks as well..”
If it were Sakusa, he might not have been able to keep going after two sets, or he might have even gotten leg cramps.
Sakusa tilted his head slightly to glance at Inamura, but said nothing.
Iizuna shrugged his shoulders: "Hinata's physical condition should still be quite good, Hinata didn't play every single set this time. Besides, compared to giving Rakusan a chance to catch up.. finishing it 2-0 would definitely be better."
I remember during the previous Interhigh, Hinata's spike count was the highest in the whole tournament, but his scoring rate back then was just average.
This National Sports Festival, it feels like.. Hinata's scoring rate is much higher than before.
No, should I say it's because Atsu-kun's balls to Shoyo have become better than before?
Ushijima stroked his chin and speculated, "No.. is it that the improvement in the quality of the first receive and the blocks has indirectly improved the entire team's offensive effectiveness?"
It's true that in these last few matches, we haven't seen Inarizaki play many long rallies..
On the court, Hinata actively interacted with the spectators on his side.
However, Shiratori and Bokuto were in the third row which was quite far away, there weren't even any seats, so Hinata couldn't see the two of them at all.
Even so, Shiratori was quite happy, waving back to Hinata along with the other spectators, his face full of smiles.
Now that's what I call being in top form.
Bokuto, beside him, watched with great excitement: "Shoyo's recent form is quite good; his spikes have the same flair I had back in the day, mm!"
Shiratori remained silent for a long while, burying his head in his arms, which were resting on the railing in front of him.
Last night, Shimizu and his partner had already left Japan for a training camp in a country in the Southern Hemisphere. After more than half a year of competition, the results achieved by Shimizu and his partner could be described as being among the very best among youth players nationwide.
Coach Sanjo had mentioned before that there was an eighty percent chance Shimizu would participate in the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing next year. This past half year has been the most intense training phase, he will be very busy, perhaps not even returning until spring truly arrives.
That also meant.. he would have to face Bokuto all by himself.
Shiratori felt as if his whole life had turned gray, his expression and complexion instantly becoming dull and lifeless.
Actually, Bokuto's personality was fine; he was just stubborn at times and always said things that were hard to understand. Much of the communication between them could be described as nonsensical.
Noticing Shirayoshi's disappointed mood, Bokuto took a step closer to him. "By the way, Shimizu and the others didn't return to the dormitory yesterday, so I'm the only one left in the dorm now.."
Shiratori replied, "Shimizu and the others went to Brazil for an exchange program. They're going to participate in the Youth Olympic Games next year, so they have to use this time to gain some international match experience."
Bokuto's eyes widened: "Youth Olympic Games!! That's amazing!"
His eyes widened, his face full of excitement: "What about me? Can I participate?"
Shiratori glanced at him and replied expressionlessly, "No."
Just as Shiratori expected, Bokuto started making a fuss: "Why! I'm also very amazing! I'm also in the U20 Junior National Team!"
My results are better than Ushijima's! I was a runner-up in high school! Right now, I feel like he and Aba are the Three Major Spikers!
Shiratori silently took a step back, silently apologizing to Aran in his heart for being ignored by Bokuto.
He hurriedly spoke up to stop Bokuto: "Of course not that! The main reason you can't go is because.."
There is no indoor volleyball in the Youth Olympic Games!
Bokuto's eyes turned into tiny dots: "Eh? Is that so?"
Shiratori nodded painfully: "So that's how it is."
There are too many participants in the three major sports of basketball, volleyball, football; for instance, basketball only features small events like three-on-three, there is no such thing as indoor hard volleyball at all.
The only volleyball event selected for the Youth Olympic Games is actually Beach Volleyball.
Bokuto slumped, looking dejected. "I want to go compete too.. I haven't even been to China yet.."
After being dejected for a while, Bokuto suddenly looked up: "Can I go with Shimizu and the others?"
Shiratori rejected him sternly once again: "No."
“Shimizu Kanata and the others have limited funds as well. Even for logistics, they would only take many of the athletes from their Beach Volleyball project to go and learn; there's no need for the two of us to even think about it.”
If they were to pay for it themselves, I'm afraid they wouldn't have the time either; during that period in summer, the U20 Indoor Volleyball teams would have other competitions to participate in.
Bokuto felt completely dejected.
Feeling the space around him finally grow quiet, Shiratori took a deep breath of the clean air.
Mm, so happy.
Fukami's service turn was ultimately halted by Miyazaki at the fifth point, Rakusan struggled to break the exceptionally fierce momentum Inarizaki had maintained since the time-out.
But in truth, it was already too late; the consecutive points during Fukami's service turn had essentially signed the death warrant for Rakusan in this set.
With a massive lead, Inarizaki decisively switched to energy-saving mode, swapping the responsibilities of Hinata and Rishia Heisuke to implement a Wing Spiker offensive system composed of Rishia and Miya Osamu, while Hinata transitioned into a defensive support role.
Receiving and positioning is inherently easier than jumping, combined with Hinata's finger injury, this playstyle is currently the most stable and best option.
With a whistle, the score for the First Set froze at Inarizaki 25:19 Rakusan; Rakusan failed to recover a single point from the advantage Fukami's serve had created.
Hinata and Fukami, having stepped off the court, high-fived each other. "You did a great job, Subaru!"
Fukami held his head high and puffed out his chest. "Of course!"
Masaru Haseda looked at the coach with burning eyes, his face clearly showing that he wanted to take the court as well.
Coach Kurosu gave him a smile but didn't say anything directly.
Kumagai patted Fukami on the back: "Well played. At this rate, you might actually manage to get ten points today."
Fukami looked incredibly smug. "Leave it to me!"
Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue lightly.
This guy came up here to score an ACE, but somehow it turned into a tactical play.
But.. he really did play quite well.
Chapter 438: The 438th Fox
Taking a large gulp of a sports drink, Aoba Haruka looked toward Aoba Kureha in the chair: "How are you feeling after this set?"
After thinking seriously, Aoba Haruka replied, "It's very hard to pursue."
Aoba Haruka couldn't help but burst out laughing: "You didn't catch them at all, let alone find them hard to catch."
He reached out and kicked his younger brother's calf. "Keep at it, while you're at it, try to chase down Number 2 as well. Hinata's back-row attack frequency has increased too."
Kureha turned her head to look at Hinata, who was saying something to Miya Atsumu: "This kind of high-frequency offense will rapidly drain a player's condition and stamina. You can't expect him to be completely exhausted; you just need to ensure his condition slips even slightly."
Coach Natsume nodded repeatedly, very satisfied with Aoba Haruka's calm commanding performance.
Aoba Haruka looked at Uehara Tsuyoshi: "Try to receive Miya Atsumu-senpai's serve as steadily as possible, don't let it fly too far away. Yumi Matsuo just needs to ensure he can get the ball to the front-row attack point."
“Don't send it to Position 4; try to pass it to Position 3 as much as possible, a bit further from the net. If the ball's trajectory won't stay upright, try to make it as high as possible.”
Yumi Matsuo nodded: "Understood."
Aoba Haruka took a deep breath, turned his back to the crowd, looked seriously at the dark group of people opposite him: "Lose a few fewer points on the first receive."
“Leave the scoring to me.”
Whether it's one point or the five points from the last set, he will find a way to win them back.
Yumi Matsuo glanced at Aoba Haruka's back, wanting to say something, but could only swallow his own concerns.
He understood Aoba Haruka's meaning. Although he was also worried about Aoba's physical condition, since the Ace had said so himself, as the Setter, he only needed to focus on doing his job of setting.
Yumi Matsuo looked at Miyazaki Sho, who was stretching his arms. "Axel Xiang, run more on the wings and crush the opponents with your super-skilled curve shots!"
Miyazaki nodded seriously: "I'll try my best."
The Center Court gathered the attention of the entire gymnasium; the temporarily renovated gymnasium would accommodate more spectators than before.
Staring at the scoreboard on the large side screen, Miya Atsumu nodded with satisfaction.
The type of play Rakusan excels at is actually quite similar to Inarizaki's, but they are surpassed by Inarizaki in every aspect; the opponents do not actually hold an advantage when playing against them.
Let's win this match with a two-set lead, then walk before their opponents in the Finals with the utmost composure.
After all of this is over.. it's time to make up for the regrets from before.
Miya Atsumu reached out and brushed against Hinata's hand resting by his side, saying softly, "Let's go on a date once this tournament is over."
Hinata tilted his head: "Aren't we supposed to go anyway?"
Their schedule after the match was already set: they were going to attend Shwaiden Adler's Fan Appreciation Day and then watch the match between Tachibana Red Falcons and Azure Rockets.
Rounding it off.. it's practically a date, isn't it?
Miya Atsumu took a sip of water. "No, I mean let's go to Shibuya on Sunday night."