Under normal circumstances, except for a change in the server during critical points, players are substituted in according to the positions they registered for.
And he remembered that the position he had registered for previously was.. Setter-Opposite.
Coach Omimi brought over the player substitution cards, upon receiving the cards, Masaru Haseda immediately raised his hand to take a look.
As expected, it was number 15 and number 10.
Letting him substitute for Shoyo-senpai.. can he really do it..
"Don't be nervous," Coach Kurosu said softly.
He could feel Masaru Haseda's stiffness beside him, but he offered no criticism. Entering the court in such a situation would make anyone nervous, as a mentor, his job was to provide guidance.
“The current score gap is large enough, so don't feel pressured. Tomorrow's match is a BO5, so we should save as much of Hinata's stamina as possible.”
Coach Kurosu tilted his head slightly, looking at Masaru Haseda's profile: "Kuniharu will substitute for Atsumu depending on the situation. As for the rest, Masahito and Itto's performance isn't up to par, so right now, you are the most suitable person."
Masaru Haseda pursed his lips. "But.."
The current score gap was indeed large, but after all, he lacked match experience; what if he messed it up?
The advantage they worked so hard to gain..
Kumagai, who had been lingering near the end of the coach's bench to observe the situation and give some instructions, glanced at Masaru Haseda's clenched hands before turning his gaze toward Hinata on the court: "Aren't you.. always wanting to challenge Shoyo-senpai?"
A chance to play that was so hard to get—don't you want to prove you're stronger? If you play well, the coach might even let you start in the next match.
Tokura glanced at the large golden python in the stands. "That's right, that's right. The starting bonuses are huge; you can buy a gift for your grandmother."
Having said that, Tokura stood up and took the court.
Masaru Haseda's breath hitched.
While he was bowing his head in thought and adjusting his own state, the whistle blew. Hinata used the block to score a point via tooling the block, even as Ogihara Ayato lunged desperately toward him, cheers erupted from all directions.
When Fukami scored two points with a serve earlier, Inarizaki already had a four-point lead.
Meanwhile, the scoreboard by the court flickered again. Relying on an overwhelmingly powerful offense, Inarizaki scored multiple consecutive points, the score that Sakusa had nearly caught up to in the previous rotation had now turned into a six-point lead for Inarizaki.
Sakusa's expression did not look very good after just rotating to the front row.
To be honest, even if the back row is their strong zone, this score difference is still too terrifying. Even if they make no mistakes, it is a gap that cannot be closed within a single rotation.
Hinata walked toward the serving position while holding the ball, the signal for a substitution sounded at that very moment.
Masaru Haseda stood by the sidelines, holding Hinata's number card.
Watching Hinata walk toward the opponent, he patted number 15 on the shoulder and said something. The hand Sakusa had kept clenched by his side finally relaxed.
Although he didn't want to admit it, Hinata's departure indeed made him feel relieved.
Although number 15 had come on to serve, he was not Inarizaki's key server for critical points.
Inarizaki's usual spikers are Kumagai, Fukami, Rishia; at this point in the match, the substitution of Hinata was certainly intended to give him a rest while the score gap was large enough.
Masaru Haseda walked toward the serving position while holding the ball.
Hinata, having returned to the Coach's bench, immediately leaned forward to look at the scoreboard in Coach Kurosu's hands.
His eyes lit up as he looked at the scoreboard in Coach Kurosu's hands that tracked everyone's scores: "Ohhh! I've already scored 6 points this set! I'm so amazing!"
It was only halftime, 6 points in a single set was actually a very respectable figure for most spikers across the entire tournament.
Moreover, his number of assists was high, so his overall rating wouldn't be low.
Coach Kurosu reached out and patted his head. "Get some good rest. If Katsuya gets too nervous and makes frequent mistakes, you'll have to go in, but don't go running around like you just did."
Hinata nodded: "Understood."
After wiping his hair dry with a towel, he took the warm salt water handed to him by Coach Omimi and held it as he sipped it slowly.
Watching Masaru Haseda prepare to serve, Hinata suddenly said, "I think Katsuya will be fine too."
Coach Kurosu looked down with a smile. "Of course."
The reason why strong schools are strong, aside from their inherent resources, is most importantly that they have enough match volume to sustain them.
Even though Masaru Haseda does not play enough in official matches, as a regular "practice partner" for Hinata and the others, his substitute has long ago learned how to coordinate under high-pressure environments without even realizing it.
Masaru Haseda's appearance this time was not to take over Hinata's role as the ace. In Hinata's absence, their ace is Miya Osamu, Atsumu will independently shift his offensive strategy to slow down the tempo.
In this situation, all Masaru Haseda has to do is handle the pressure.
And Masaru Haseda had been rolling around and tumbling under Hinata for a whole year.. he must have mastered this skill through experience alone.
Hinata removed his knee pads and ankle brace to move his joints, briefly relaxing his muscles.
Coach Omimi knelt down to check his leg, ensuring that his physical condition was fine.
Kumagai walked over to Coach Kurosu and whispered a few words to him, Coach Kurosu nodded without saying anything.
Hinata leaned back slightly to look at Kumagai, watching him with curious eyes as he passed by the waiting area.
Kumagai waved him off, having no intention of answering him.
So Hinata looked at Coach Kurosu beside him: "What did Akuma just say?"
Coach Kurosu didn't hold anything back: "He said he can play the next set."
Hinata's eyes lit up: "Oh, that's absolutely no problem at all."
The coach had said before that Itachiyama's current starting lineup lacks an absolutely dominant, high-pressure block, so if he sets for Kumagai, it might just produce unexpected results.
And as for the quick attack..
Thinking of this, Hinata let out a few heh-heh-heh laughs, sounding quite wicked.
Suna, having just finished drying his hair, used his hands to comb through his hair, attempting to press the messy strands back into their original shape: "Can I take a break then?"
Coach Kurosu didn't spoil Suna at all: "You keep playing."
Coach Kurosu knew Suna's physical condition better than anyone. Suna should still be quite composed right now; after all, most of the quick attacks involved Hinata making the runs, meaning he, as a middle blocker, was essentially slacking off.
And the person who only played half a game actually thought about slacking off; he should go back and continue extra training for Suna. Anyway, he is planning to get a recommendation for college, so he doesn't need to prepare for exams like Ginjima and the others.
Suna pursed his lips and said nothing more.
On the court, Masaru Haseda's serve was remarkably stable; he unleashed a heavy ball, aiming it directly at Ishikawa in the back row of Itachiyama.
Ishikawa's physique was not as solid as Sakusa's, being hit head-on by the ball, he was nearly knocked over.
However, he still managed to stabilize the ball, doing his best to keep it in play and prevent it from flying too far.
Hinata shouted, "It's a scramble!"
Tokura and Ginjima in the front row quickly gathered near the center of Position 4, keeping a close eye on Sakusa's movements.
On the other side, Miya Atsumu was left to provide support.
The conditions for the setter were poor; given Inamoto's skill level, he wouldn't be able to set a particularly good ball.
In most similar situations before, Inamoto's choice was always to give the ball to the Ace, this time would be no exception.
This wasn't a matter of Inamoto's trust in the Ace as a setter, but rather that he had no other choice.
He could only do this much.
Of course, Sakusa rarely disappoints the setter most of the time.
Seeing the ball fly toward Sakusa, Miya Atsumu from the other side also moved quickly to follow, the three of them blocked in front of Sakusa as close to the net as possible, cutting off all of his possible paths for the ball.
Relying on the setter's poor delivery, they closed the distance so effectively that Sakusa couldn't even execute a normal spike.
Sakusa felt irritated, but in the end, he could only choose to tip the ball over.
But he still added something to this ball, making it drop toward the Inarizaki court with backspin, grazing the block.
Masaru Haseda, who had been hit by Hinata many times, reacted quickly, thrusting a leg out to cushion the ball underneath it and forcefully receiving it.
Nice play!!
Teacher Gojo patted the back of the chair behind Haseda's grandmother, making a loud slapping sound: "Grandma! Your grandson is so cool!"
Haseda's grandmother was also very happy watching, adding, "So handsome—"
Coach Kaku burst into tears in an instant. "Katsuya—you've grown up!!"
The person from Iizuna in the stands spoke up in praise: "Inarizaki is very steady."
He could see that Sakusa and the others actually wanted to try to counter-attack as much as possible while Hinata was off the court, but.. it was obvious that Inarizaki didn't want to give them that opportunity.
This newcomer they brought on is completely unfazed by the pressure; his reaction speed and intelligence are both quite excellent.
Masaru Haseda's playstyle of using his feet wouldn't affect the block at all, it wouldn't affect Inarizaki's subsequent offense in the slightest.
On the coach's bench, Coach Kurosu listened to Hinata's cheering beside him and nodded inwardly.
See? When you actually step onto the court.. you'll find it's not that difficult.
Because he had actually already solved most of these difficult problems once before.
Chapter 524: The Five Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Fox
After scoring a point, Tokura glanced at the clenched fist beside Masaru Haseda and couldn't help but let out a smile.
Among Inarizaki's current starters, he and Suna are the only ones with good taste and a sense of normalcy. Although Miya Atsumu has decent taste, Masaru Haseda is a bit afraid of him.
When choosing a birthday present for Haseda's grandmother before, Masaru Haseda came to find him.
—It was that little peony-shaped hat currently resting on Teacher Gojo's head.
Glancing at the round, black, laser-reflective sunglasses currently perched on Haseda's grandmother's head, Tokura didn't know what to say for a moment.
In short, instead of using psychological warfare on Masaru Haseda himself, it was better to bring up his grandmother.
He raised his hand and walked toward Masaru Haseda, giving him a high five. "Nice receive."
Masaru Haseda pursed his lips, just as Tokura thought he was about to say something touching, he suddenly said, "I think I can challenge Shoyo-senpai again."
Tokura's steps back toward the front row faltered as he turned to look at the dead serious Masaru Haseda. "What are you going to compete with him about this time? You've already lost ten consecutive hundred-meter races to him."
By the way, the last time Hinata broke the Track and Field Club's 100-meter record, he was nearly detained at the stadium by the track and field coach. Since then, Coach Kurosu has forbidden Hinata from going to the stadium when he is not around.
Later, Masaru Haseda challenged Hinata again; the two of them competed to see who could grab the limited-edition half-price bread at the school convenience store.