They have also been busy with matches these past two days, so he hasn't watched the previous recordings yet and isn't quite clear on the current strength of Karasuno's wing spikers.
But no matter how much things change, the core principle remains the same: if you want to take down teams like Karasuno or the former Municipal Kobe, the simplest way is to increase your offensive output and directly break through their defense.
Hinata rested his chin on Miya Atsumu's shoulder, looking at the phone screen that had been turned sideways.
He exclaimed in awe, "So cool, Akari's line shot."
The score flickered, Shiratorizawa 19:15 Date Tech.
Only at this moment did Hinata realize something was wrong: "Is the score gap really this large?"
He remembered it very clearly; Date Tech had won against Shiratorizawa in the previous IH, that block was indeed very annoying; Shiratorizawa's single-point offense should be quite difficult to deal with.
Miya Atsumu explained, "Yura and Goshiki's coordination is almost there, compared to Shirabu, Yura is actually very good at coordinating multi-point attacks."
If I had to say.. his playstyle is actually very similar to Oikawa-senpai's. Disciplined, yet unpredictable.
Hinata said in a low voice, "Oikawa-senpai said before that he rejected Shiratorizawa's invitations several times. I actually can't quite imagine what it would be like with Ushijima-senpai and Oikawa-senpai playing together.."
Even though Shiratorizawa has always been a standard single-core team with Ushijima-senpai over these past few years, one can only say it's because Ushijima-senpai is truly strong enough. Shiratorizawa respects strength above all else; if they truly couldn't accept a multi-core playstyle, Coach Washijo wouldn't have chosen to specially recruit Oikawa-senpai and Wase-senpai.
Miya Atsumu felt a slight sense of regret. "But in terms of the final result, Shiratorizawa did eventually lean completely toward a single ace during their subsequent adjustments, though that was likely the best choice for Shiratorizawa at the time."
“Wase-senpai sometimes gets too hotheaded and loses sight of his priorities, which really does severely impact Ushijima-senpai's offensive ability.”
So..
Like I said, Shiratorizawa is a typical team where strength is respected above all else. If I were a more capable setter, I should have had the power to change the team's direction.
From my perspective, the previous Shiratorizawa team had too many things worth exploring, it's just that Shirabu and Wase couldn't do it.
Atsumu curled his lips into a smirk. "Of course, I think Oikawa-senpai is the same."
Chapter 469: The 469th Fox
With Shiratorizawa already holding a significant advantage, the outcome of this match was actually predictable.
Goshiki Tsutomu's momentum was intense; the high wall that he had been completely unable to break through during the IH has now been smashed open by him.
He was braver and more decisive than before.
After giving up the playstyle of relying solely on brute force like Ushijima-senpai, he had, to some extent, taken reference from Hinata and Sakusa to seek a balance between his original strength and technical balls.
It was obvious that, having already had experience supporting Ushijima-senpai, he performed even better in this regard.
Yura more frequently coordinated attacks between the middle blockers, Yura and Kawanishi, stretching the horizontal distance of the entire offense to an extreme degree to split Date Tech's Block.
This style of play was very effective, since Date Tech's Block was not strong across the entire court, Coach Washijo had just timed the rotation to shut down the opponent's weak zone.
This set.. Date Tech was already powerless to turn things around.
Goshiki Tsutomu's beautiful line shot secured the final point, the long whistle blew, announcing Shiratorizawa's victory.
Watching Goshiki rush to hug and cheer with his teammates in the live stream, Hinata clenched his fists in front of the screen as well: "Hell yeah!!"
Miya Atsumu rubbed his chin with his hand. "Then tomorrow's match will be Karasuno versus Shiratorizawa.."
Hinata said without hesitation, "I want to see it."
To be honest, he didn't actually know how Karasuno was doing lately; the last time he had contact with anyone from Karasuno was when he chatted with Kageyama during the previous training camp, for some reason, Kageyama hadn't sent him any more messages after that.
But it was true that Kageyama had Miya Atsumu's number now; if he had any technical questions, it would certainly be better to ask Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu shrugged his shoulders. "That's a shame, we have class tomorrow."
Hinata pursed his lips.
Indeed, final exams were not far off, it was impossible to ask the teacher for leave just because of "wanting to watch a match."
After putting away his tablet, Miya Atsumu leaned one hand against the windowsill, tilting his head slightly to look at Hinata's profile.
The Women's Volleyball Finals will be held in Miyagi first, followed by the Men's Volleyball matches half an hour later. There's no lunch break; the awards ceremony is in the afternoon.
As Hinata looked over, Miya Atsumu's gaze swept toward the sky outside the bus, which had turned completely dark. "If we're lucky, once we're done with classes this morning, we can try to catch a glimpse during the lunch break; it might not be over yet."
Hinata clenched his fists. "Then I'll go find Atsumu-ge then! We can watch it in the locker room!"
The gymnasium is closed at noon, but the locker room is accessible.
Going to the classroom was ultimately inconvenient, because he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't shout out loud from excitement.
Miya Atsumu curled his lips into a slight smile. "Alright, then I'll come find you after class tomorrow."
He and Suna are currently in the Physical Education Department, where teachers usually finish class right on time, there are no matters regarding future career planning or academic advancement like there are in the general academic tracks.
After all, those remaining in the Physical Education Department during their third year are basically those whose academic and athletic scores are high enough, or those who have already secured their future paths. For the former, take Suna; for the latter, take himself.
In contrast, the Physical Education Department currently has two more classes in the second year, so their academic performance is still strictly monitored.
During this period, Hinata and the others had quite a few instances of staying late after class or having meetings, so by the time school let out, it had gone from Hinata going to pick him up to him picking up Hinata.
Because the Regional Qualifiers do not involve playing full matches, both Miya Atsumu and Hinata are currently in excellent condition, without any worries like sore waists or aching legs.
After finishing the last period of Japanese class in a daze, Hinata, who was sitting in a seat near the back door, was the first to rush out of the classroom, clutching his lunch box.
Rishia didn't care about him either; after early summer this year, lunchtimes belonged to Hinata and Miya Atsumu.
His lunch partner had changed from Hinata and Kumagai to Tokura Yukihito from the class next door, since Kumagai wouldn't be coming out for lunch anymore.
Ever since he set his sights on Todai, Kumagai had begun participating in various competitions, he had already won a national gold medal in mathematics.
If it weren't for the fact that he truly loved the Volleyball Club, volleyball was also one of the pillars of the school, the school leadership would have already prepared to arrange for him to leave his position as a starter in the Volleyball Club to focus on preparing for various competitions.
After all.. with the foundation of these two years of national-level results, Kumagai's resume was certainly not lacking in this regard.
But Kumagai himself didn't think that way.
Whether it was participating in competitions or preparing for his time in the Volleyball Club until graduation, it was all to achieve a more perfect deviation score, so that he could enter his dream university with his head held high.
Now.. he still lacks a few championship trophies that he won with his own hands, rather than receiving them as a substitute.
As he passed by Kumagai's classroom door, Hinata peeked inside as usual, only to find that the people inside had not finished class yet; instead, many were discussing questions with the teacher.
In the end, he could only exchange greetings with Unabara Uta, who had come over to wait for Imai, before hurrying downstairs to the third-year building to find Miya Atsumu.
But just as Miya Atsumu had said yesterday, their class ended earlier; as Hinata was heading downstairs, he happened to see Miya Atsumu walking this way, carrying his lunch and a tablet.
Hinata rushed toward Miya Atsumu, holding his lunchbox aloft. "Atsumu-ge! I brought shrimp tempura today! There's some for you too!"
Miya Atsumu also shook the bento box in his hands at him. "Perfect, Mom made an extra tuna rice ball for you."
Hinata cheered, "Long live tuna rice balls!"
Eating is prohibited in the locker room of Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium.
But Miya Atsumu didn't care. As the Captain, he flipped the rule over, then grabbed his bento box and sat down on a mat in a corner with Hinata, using a seat in the middle of the locker room as a table to place his tablet on.
“Which set is it?”
Hinata leaned over to take a look while opening his lunch box.
Miya Atsumu opened the full-screen replay and said, "Fourth Set, Shiratorizawa leads 2:1. In the fourth set, it's currently Shiratorizawa 12:13 Karasuno."
Taking a glance at the specific match results on the webpage on his phone, Miya Atsumu's expression twisted for a moment. "Whoa, Shiratorizawa took the first two sets.."
Right now, Shiratorizawa still has two match points; no matter which way you look at it, they have a very high chance of winning.
But.. it ultimately depends on how the match unfolds; Shiratorizawa is already on the verge of a comeback, facing the possibility of losing after being down two sets to zero.
Looking at the person wearing the number 9 jersey who was saying something to Kageyama on the court, Hinata raised a hand to rub his chin. "He looks familiar, but I don't know him."
Miya Atsumu replied, "Ah, that's Karasuno's other setter, Tokita Sora. Most of the time in junior high, he played as a Wing Spiker, but he switched to setter after joining Karasuno."
Hinata looked up at him. "Atsumu-ge knows him?"
No.. rather, it should be said that Miya Atsumu acted as if he was quite familiar with Karasuno.
Miya Atsumu reached out to open Hinata's lunch box and helped himself to a piece of fried shrimp. "Hmm, I mentioned it before when I was discussing tactics with Kageyama."
Chewing the shrimp in his mouth, Miya Atsumu looked incredibly happy.
As expected, the freshly made food at the Hinata family's house tastes much better; the food in the bento box isn't as crispy anymore after being carried until noon..
Not getting a sufficient response, Hinata narrowed his eyes and silently closed the lid of his bento box.
He stared intently at Miya Atsumu, trying to get Miya Atsumu to say something he could actually understand.
Miya Atsumu paused, silently stuffing Hinata's rice ball into his mouth, along with two blooming sausages: "Karasuno is still playing with a double setter system. They originally planned to study standard left wing tactics, but since their wing spikers couldn't coordinate with Tanaka-senpai's powerful spikes, they ultimately decided to continue using last year's double setter playstyle."
Tokita has experience as a Wing Spiker, Kageyama's offense is also very good. Plus, their Libero's setting skills are quite impressive; many times he can set up a Pipe attack or even a Back Attack.
On the court, Kawanishi from Shiratorizawa scored a spike to tie the score,
As the camera panned along the sidelines of the court, Hinata saw two familiar people.
He blinked. "Coach Himegomiya and Coach Sanjo."
Miya Atsumu paused while eating his tuna rice ball. "Huh? What are the two of them doing here?"
Hinata explained, "I recommended Nishinoya-senpai to Coach Sanjo before, but Nishinoya-senpai never accepted his invitation. This time, he might have gone there to talk in person."
Recalling the conversation between Coach Sanjo and Hinata when Hinata signed his recommendation to Central Physical Education University, a flash of realization crossed Miya Atsumu's eyes: "Ah, so it's Nishinoya?"
Nishinoya was indeed an excellent player; even though their contact had been brief, the opponent's powerful first receive had left a deep impression on him. If he were to switch to beach volleyball.. it would actually be quite suitable for him.
After cheering each other on, the members of Karasuno took their positions on the court again.
The service right passed to Yura.
The Ace, Goshiki Tsutomu, rotated back to the front row, which was exactly when Shiratorizawa's offense was at its strongest.
Tsukishima Kei, at Karasuno's Position 4 in the front row, slightly turned his head to look at Goshiki Tsutomu, who was raising his hand to wipe away sweat on the opposite side, slowly exhaled.
Yesterday, their match was won 2-0, while Shiratorizawa had to fight through three sets; by comparison, Karasuno's condition would certainly be better.
But.. even though the Libero and the Setter were both showing signs of fatigue, the Ace Goshiki's form remained high.
He raised his hand to adjust the glasses on the bridge of his nose, but lowered his hand after feeling the texture of the silicone.
It doesn't matter, it's already the Fourth Set.
Based on the past match records between Seijo and Shiratorizawa, even Ushijima-senpai would feel fatigue by the fifth set, let alone Goshiki Tsutomu.
Even if Shiratorizawa's tactical focus is not entirely on the Ace right now, at the end of the day, Goshiki's consumption is the greatest.