Improving the contact point directly results in a shorter flight path for the ball to reach its intended destination, making the ball appear faster to the naked eye.
But.. this improvement actually doesn't have a huge impact on the ball's speed itself.
What plays a decisive role in spike speed is power and arm extension speed; those are the key factors that make a ball difficult to receive.
As for Asahina's serve at this moment, it only requires some reaction speed.
And as for this, he felt he was actually quite good at it.
—The record for the Whac-A-Mole machine at the largest arcade near Inarizaki was seventh, as Kito said.
Unabara Uta, positioned between Position 1 and Position 6, quickly took a large step toward his left. "I've got it!"
Asahina's target for this ball was at the boundary between his and Rishia's defense, but Unabara Uta had called out early, preemptively excluding Rishia Heisuke from the receiving range.
When it comes to the first receive, Inarizaki's basic principle is that whoever calls it first, receives it. Regardless of their actual receiving skill, once someone calls it, everyone else must assume the success rate is one hundred percent.
As Unabara Uta moved, the Inarizaki front row and Hinata, who was covered by Rishia in the back row, had all already begun to move.
Miya Atsumu quickly retreated to near the Three-meter Line behind Position 2.5, preparing to coordinate the play between Position 1 and 2 toward Position 4.
His positioning wasn't that rigid; after all, Unabara Uta wasn't some top-tier Libero, small mistakes were possible with this kind of ball.
And as the setter, he must make appropriate adjustments at any time based on the position of the first receive, including, but not limited to, being forced into performing high-difficulty acrobatic sets.
Of course, the more distance Unabara Uta had to run, the more "senior guidance" he would receive during the post-match review meeting.
Given that yesterday's match went relatively smoothly, Unabara Uta's physical condition and state were both excellent, he provided a quite decent first receive against Asahina's not-so-heavy ball.
Miya Atsumu moved two steps to get under the ball, while Hirugami and Hakuma on the opposite side stared at his movements, Hoshiumi, positioned a bit further away from the sideline, remained vigilant against any sudden wide attacks from Inarizaki.
But contrary to Karasuno's expectations, Miya Atsumu's set for this ball was quite "straightforward." He didn't use any flashy tactics, simply tossing a ball to Position 4 for Miya Osamu under the cover of Suna's Libero movement.
Three players from Karasuno quickly closed in, forming a wall in front of Miya Osamu to try and suppress his offense.
Miya Osamu confirmed the current positioning of Karasuno's back-row setter, then jumped and extended his arms, preparing for a spike.
In a daze, Asahina's pupils contracted as he briefly locked eyes with Miya Osamu, he subconsciously shifted half a step toward Takahashi.
Before the match, he had once speculated about the tactics Inarizaki might choose, one of them was targeting the Setter—a tactic that Inarizaki was very likely to choose and one that was simple and easy to execute.
Even if Karasuno doesn't rely entirely on offense to score, he must still protect himself.
It wasn't for anything else; it was mainly because his receiving skills weren't very good to begin with.
In the next second, accompanied by a light sound, Miya Osamu executed a dump over the net, precisely dropping the ball into the space between Hoshiumi and Asahina.
Although Takahashi could have received it, the ball's landing point was too far forward; theoretically, it was a ball for the blocker to handle.
Under Miya Osamu's calm gaze, Hoshiumi twisted his body and tried to reach out to receive the ball.
But Miya Osamu's ball wasn't a simple dump; it was a backspin spike he had mastered after communicating with Hinata. The ball would fall even faster, Hoshiumi wouldn't be able to reach it in time.
Hoshiumi decisively gave up, sacrificing his own balance to use his foot to cushion the ball.
The dull sound of the ball hitting the shoe rang out immediately after. Due to the material of the shoelaces, the ball didn't bounce up at all; it only rose to an extremely limited height.
Asahina also decisively extended his foot, applying force in the opposite direction to kick the ball up.
Yamamoto in the stands was very excited: [The reaction speed is so fast, the ball was sent to the center!]
Hirugami offered a word of praise: "Beautiful!"
He created a bit of distance from the net toward the back-diagonal, took two steps of approach to lower his center of gravity, jumped, used his full arm extension to spike the ball.
Suna Osamu and Miya Atsumu had already chased after it.
The ball itself wasn't set well, under Suna's intense desire to "shut it down and score directly," he and Miya Osamu teamed up to smash Hirugami's ball straight back, directing it toward the side where Hoshiumi was still struggling to get up.
Hoshiumi rolled to the side and used his forearms to receive the ball.
Nice play!!
The Karasuno stands erupted in cheers, everyone's heart leaping into their throats.
【Blocked！】
[Nice, received! However, Inarizaki is further compressing Hoshiumi's space!]
Miya Atsumu gave hand signals to Unabara Uta and Hinata one after another from behind, then returned to his position near Position 2, preparing to block.
Hakuma, who was closest to him, had a very serious expression, his lips pursed as if he were lost in thought.
Hoshiumi's set had a decent height; although the ball was moving very fast, Asahina still had enough space to make a play on the pass.
For this ball, Asahina chose to bump it toward Position 4, right in front of Hakuma.
With the opening being quite unfavorable, they needed Hakuma's violent breakthrough to regain the initiative in the match.
The moment the ball flew over, Suna and Miya Atsumu swapped positions, with Suna performing a line defense at Position 2 for Inarizaki.
Although Asahina didn't put enough spin on the ball, fortunately, the height was great; as long as Hakuma could time his spike correctly, he would definitely be able to hit over the block.
Suna knew this very well, so at the moment Hakuma spiked, he pulled his position back and completed the one-touch at a lower point.
"One-touch!" Even though Suna had made full preparations and had taped his fingers before the match, he still clearly felt the pain radiating through his flesh from the heavy impact.
This is why he had to switch positions with Miya Atsumu in this situation; with his enough experience, he was better suited to handle such a heavy hit.
If the angle at which the others pulled back was even slightly off, it could result in a finger injury.
"Nice touch!" Unabara Uta praised while quickly stepping back to follow the ball. A ball that has been touched by a block isn't too difficult to control; he could easily give him a much better set.
He jumped near the baseline, met the ball with his hands, used the strength of his fingers to send the ball flying very, very high.
Miya Atsumu found the ball's position, retreating behind the three-meter line to create space for his approach.
He took a three-step approach and jumped toward the net, making a motion as if prepared to spike.
[Number 9 gives a super high set!]
[Is Inarizaki's setter going to do a fake spike?]
Hirugami was in no hurry to act, Hakuma followed him, not making any decisions on his own.
Their height gives them an absolute advantage; even from the back row, they can reach the positions above the net.
Miya Atsumu's feint spike and dump are played to perfection; they must anticipate every possible move the opponent might make in advance.
The next second, at the moment of his spike, Miya Atsumu slightly shifted his body, sending a nearly straight ball toward Position 4 at the highest point of his jump.
Hinata, who had long been prepared, had already jumped under Miya Osamu's cover. His form was incredibly light; because he had started his approach from outside the court, the disorganized members of Karasuno failed to even fully notice him.
Hoshiumi lunged toward him, on the other side, Hirugami also followed quickly, as the two of them attempted to close off the space for Hinata's spike.
But they had calculated everything and still failed to expect that the one who would ultimately provide Hinata with a direct scoring opportunity would be Hakuma.
Hakuma was the furthest away, his movement was slow as he lunged forward. Hinata, who had originally prepared a backhand short diagonal spike aimed at the setter, instantly changed his mind and spiked the ball directly at Hakuma's fingers.
With a loud thud, the ball bounced high into the air and landed out of bounds on Inarizaki's side.
Hoshiumi, having landed, dove under the net and sprinted toward the ball in an attempt to save it, but ultimately he was just a little too late.
The whistle blew, Inarizaki scores.
Nice play, Shoyo!
Beautifully played!!
Yamamoto cried out in regret: [Oh no! A mistake! Karasuno's Position 3 reacted a bit too slowly, giving Hinata an opportunity!]
Kito clapped his hands repeatedly: "A fake spike that turned into a real set, using backspin to control the ball's trajectory—it was fast, deep, absolutely divine."
Right, Oikawa?
Oikawa acted as if he hadn't heard: [Hinata's reaction speed is incredibly fast, his ability to capture an opponent's weakness is extremely sharp, his transition between spiking styles is extremely decisive.]
[As expected of the leader of the new generation of Ace spikers!]
Hinata held up a single finger toward Hoshiumi Hikari, who had just returned to the court: "First point!"
Miya Atsumu came over with a smile and gave Hinata a high five.
This first point of the opening—no matter which perspective you take—is most appropriately taken by the Ace.
—Although it wasn't their original plan, they could only blame Karasuno for not working hard enough.
Behind him, Hoshiumi directed his grievance at Hakuma: "Meisei! What are you doing!"
Hakuma scratched his head, still unable to process what had just happened.
Asahina Kongming, beside him, frowned.
For some reason, he always felt a profound sense of dissonance in Inarizaki's rotations before and after.
Connecting it to Suna's block, as well as Miya Osamu's spike at the start, Hinata's movement when he jumped just now, which seemed like he was preparing for a backhand..
Is it aimed at him?
No, looking at the final result, the one caught in the middle was Hoshiumi.
Could it be.. that hitting him was just a ruse, the real purpose of Inarizaki was to wear down Hoshiumi?
As if sensing something, Miya Atsumu, who had been talking to Hinata, turned his head slightly toward him and gave him a very kind smile.
Asahina pursed his lips, his hands unconsciously clenching, his palms covered in sweat.
Atsumu then turned his head and took the volleyball, preparing to serve.
It wasn't until Miya Atsumu's figure was blocked by Unabara Uta that Asahina breathed a sigh of relief.
Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly rubbed his hands against his pants to ensure his setting form was ready.
He couldn't panic. It was only one rotation so far; no matter what the opponent's arrangement was, he couldn't make a hasty decision like this.
Let's observe a bit more.
Chapter 449: The 449th Fox
“Give me a good serve!!”
Having rotated to the front row, Hinata gave a smile to Hoshiumi on the opposite side and shouted loudly in support of Miya Atsumu.
After a few more adjustments, Inarizaki's serve cover now basically has nothing to do with Hinata.