However, Itachiyama's advantage was that they were private and wealthy.
Although she and Utsunomiya have not had much experience in this area, Itachiyama has a dedicated athletic training team, Mikail, whom Inarizaki frequently books, is one of the core members of that team.
Coach Himegomiya shrugged his shoulders. "But there's no need for us to use it, since we don't have a player like Shoyo. If someone sprains an ankle due to bad luck, kinesiology tape won't be able to stop it."
As of now, the only thing Itachiyama needs to pay special attention to is Sakusa's wrist tendons.
However, regular check-ups had never revealed any issues, Sakusa himself took great care in his maintenance.
For Itachiyama, kinesiology tape is indeed a useless technique at this stage.
Coach Himegomiya leaned over the railing, muttering, "Winter break is still so far away, I miss my Xiaoxia.."
She hasn't seen Xiaoxia for two months and seven days!
What's even more annoying is that some guy with an afro brags to her every single day about Xiaoxia's recent updates.
With the sound of a whistle, the score on the big screen jumped to Inarizaki 2:0 Rakusan.
It was a Double Quick coordinated by Hinata and Miya Osamu, ultimately, Miya Osamu took the point.
Kito, standing by the sidelines, was completely unable to remain calm: "That was too fast, has he ever been like this before?"
Oikawa Tooru crossed his arms over his chest, recalling the Shoyo he first encountered: "He always had it; back when little Shoyo-kun hadn't learned so many things, he basically relied on this to score."
However, for Hinata, speed is merely a tool that can be utilized as a targeted tactic under specific conditions.
"In the last set, it felt like Rakusan's one-on-one block could keep up, but in this set, they've been completely left behind.." Hirugami watched the match on the court, his expression extremely heavy.
Hoshiumi leaned back: "So Rakusan is still just playing like crazy and taking the lion's share; they don't have a single clear tactical role at all."
Either completely ignore Hinata's movement and use a coordinated three-person block to suppress him with no blind spots, or find someone who can keep up and engage in a thorough one-on-one block.
Watching Miya Atsumu prepare for his third serve, Hoshiumi clicked his tongue. "If Inarizaki increases the pressure on any single condition while he's in this inconsistent state, they're very likely to lose their balance and collapse."
Hirugami commented objectively, "Rakusan has slightly underestimated Inarizaki's determination to settle things quickly."
Aoba Haruka's expression remained calm on the court, showing no emotional fluctuations despite the two-point deficit at the opening.
Miya Atsumu's powerful serve is known to everyone, he has long been prepared to go on a massive scoring run.
Hinata's acceleration was visible to the naked eye, making him truly difficult to deal with. But unfortunately for him, he also had a few tricks up his sleeve that were ready to be used.
After all, Inarizaki guarded his technical serves with extreme vigilance; Suna and Miya Osamu's blocking movements didn't have a single flaw, giving him no chance to use the block to score.
And besides.. if he doesn't push himself harder, there won't be a next time after this tournament.
Uehara Tsuyoshi massaged his extremely tense calves, praying silently in his heart.
His training intensity over the last two days has been a bit too high, he has been doing endless diving saves throughout this match; he feels like he hasn't even stood up from the ground.
He knew very well that his physical condition at this stage was already in a precarious state; it would be one thing if he just lacked the strength to keep playing, but he was more afraid of his legs cramping.
If that happens.. then this match really won't be playable.
Please, just hold on a little longer.
The whistle sounded in his ears, the moment Uehara pulled his wandering attention back, the sound of the ball being struck had already occurred.
It was a buzzer-beater.
This ball came too suddenly, Uehara Tsuyoshi didn't react in time at all.
Luckily, Iori Miwa on the other side dove in just in time, barely managing to dig the ball.
"Nice save!" Yumi Matsuo praised loudly.
Aoba Haruka, who had already retreated to his approach position, raised his hand to call for the ball: "Give it to me!"
Hearing his voice, Yumi Matsuo did not hesitate for long, without even looking at Inarizaki's defensive setup, decisively sent the ball toward the high point at Position 3.
Before Miya Atsumu's serve, Haruka had given him instructions; he said he wanted a higher ball.
Watching the trajectory of this ball, Aoba stepped forward quickly.
In fact, among the traditional powerhouse high schools, the average height of Rakusan and Inarizaki doesn't even reach the middle tier, as a result, they have always had a significant weakness in terms of blocking height.
Even though he himself isn't that good at jumping.. his hands are more than capable of handling Miya Osamu's toss.
Thud!
Aoba Haruka's height rose instantly in Miya Osamu's field of vision, the set ball, controlled by Haruka, precisely avoided the slightly higher Suna, flying just above Miya Osamu's fingertips.
Rishia turned and lunged for it, but in the end, he couldn't reach it.
The numbers on the scoreboard jumped to 2:1, as Rakusan broke Miya Atsumu's Service Turn.
Aoba Haruka, who had landed on the ground, let out a slow breath, adjusting her condition bit by bit.
He said that he would handle the task of catching up on the score.
After interrupting Inarizaki's Service Turn, Rakusan's Miyazaki Sho took his turn to serve.
Coach Natsume secretly clenched his fist: "Good! The time for a counterattack has come!"
A thin layer of sweat covered Aoba Haruka's forehead as he stood beside him, his hands gripping his own pants, his entire being in a state of extreme tension.
Coach Natsume reached out and patted his back, "It's alright. Even if it's fast, it's not that much faster. Your task is still to stay with him."
You don't need to keep up completely; just confirm his direction and make sure you can stay within his blocking and defensive range.
Kureha nodded, "Understood."
Noticing his complexion, Coach Natsume casually pulled out a thermometer and pressed it against his forehead.
His body temperature was normal; he didn't have a fever.
Kureha took a deep breath. "I'm just.. a little nervous. That number 10 runs even faster than before; I'm not sure if I can keep up."
Coach Natsume chuckled, "Relax, it'll be fine. The net is only nine meters long; do you think he's going to grow wings and fly away?"
Aoba Haruka nodded again: "Yes, I understand."
In the middle of the court, after adjusting his touch, Miyazaki decisively tossed the ball, then took a running start and leaped with a heavy thud just before the baseline.
Although Rakusan's overall serve quality wasn't as high as Inarizaki's, but.. given this person chosen for the opening, he didn't think he was much worse than Miya Atsumu.
Thud!!
The moment the heavy thud occurred, Rishia also took a half-step toward the ball's trajectory and lowered his center of gravity.
In this current formation, Hinata is not in the back row, Miya Atsumu's position makes it almost impossible for the right-handed Miyazaki Sho to target him with a Banana Ball, so he and Unabara Uta have more room to play.
After the experience of the previous set, Rishia has basically figured out how to use a strong side spin like this with his off-hand.
Although it was heavy, in the end, it wasn't as strong as the spike spin that Sakusa directly generated from the net.
So the real secret to receiving this kind of ball isn't about making massive adjustments to the angle of your arms, but rather about lifting the ball as much as possible to absorb its momentum.
The sound of impact rang out again, the volleyball flew steadily toward the front row.
Miya Atsumu, who had covered from the back row, breathed a sigh of relief: "Nice play!"
He stepped forward quickly, jumping on one foot behind the Three-meter Line to position himself to intercept the ball.
As Hinata turned and stepped back to gain distance for his approach, he shouted, "Heisuke, great first receive!"
Harukawa observed Hinata's movements.
When performing a lateral attack, Hinata doesn't actually need a running start; he mostly jumps from one foot after adjusting his lateral position.
Taking a four-step approach meant that Shoyo would most likely be pursuing vertical spike height in his subsequent attack..
While keeping some attention on Hinata, Harukawa focused more of his energy on observing Miya Atsumu.
Inarizaki's front row features a three-point attack, Suna and Miya Osamu are not just there for show.
Regarding the intensity of Miya Osamu's spike.. they had already gained an incredibly clear understanding of it during the second half of the previous set.
But this time, Miya Atsumu didn't try any tricks, cleanly delivering the ball to a high point at Position 4.
—Just like the set Yumi Matsuo gave to Aoba Haruka just now.
No, it was a little different.
This ball was hit at a higher point than Aoba Haruka's, Miya Atsumu stabilized the ball's rotation, giving Shoyo plenty of time to adjust.
As Harukawa chased toward Position 4, a thought flashed through his mind.
It was as if Inarizaki was practically "showing off" the correct way to play this kind of high ball to them.
Hinata's timing made him hesitate; even though he had guessed from the start that it would be the opponent's spike, when the moment actually came, he truly had no way to handle it.
No.. he can do it.
At the moment of his jump, Harukawa leaned his entire body backward at an angle, creating distance between himself and the net.
Since I can't reach it, I'll just have to cut off the opponent's next trajectory!
Watching Harukawa and the others, Hinata's expression was calm, he did only one thing.
—He pulled back.
The ball followed the trajectory of Miya Atsumu's original set, grazing the net before dropping and rolling softly onto the floor.
The whistle blew, the Head Referee signaled that the score for Inarizaki was valid.
Harukawa's eyes widened.
In his field of vision, Hinata's expression looked exceptionally innocent.
Chapter 440: The Four Hundred and Fortieth Fox
Staring into Hinata's eyes, Harukawa's mind went completely blank.
Even though his reaction was indeed excessive, under normal circumstances, a Spiker would also choose to go for a Woguo against a block like that..
But, but—
Harukawa instinctively looked at Aoba Haruka, who had a better view beside him, asked, "Did Miya Atsumu not commit a foul?"
Aoba Haruka replied, "No, he jumped behind the three-meter line."
Harukawa raised his hand to cover his face and let out a deep sigh.