Of course, so far, neither of them has managed to bring back even a single loaf of bread.
That group of people who play American football and sumo is terrifying..
Tokura clenched his fist towards Haseda Katsuya. "I'm rooting for you, good luck."
Sakusa, who had been struggling to break through, frowned; after Inarizaki intentionally slowed down the tempo, the frequency of their scoring decreased even further.
Although they had consecutive scores and their overall score was higher than Inarizaki's, the significant advantage Inarizaki had previously gained remained unbridled.
And that advantage was forcibly dragged by Inarizaki to the very end of the set.
Inarizaki 24:22 Itachiyama, set point for Inarizaki.
“Their wing spiker tactics are also quite mature.” Arashiyama praised sincerely from the stands.
Sasaki shrugged. "But it's obvious, Miya Atsumu doesn't like playing."
Hayami nodded: "Yeah."
Of course, this didn't have much to do with who the Ace was; even if Miya Atsumu were biased, he wouldn't go so far as to act superior on the court.
The tactics of a core Wing Spiker don't change much, but whether they can achieve variety and flexibility depends on the Middle Blocker's Quick Attack system; of course, in this regard, Inarizaki splits its focus equally between the Opposite and the Middle Blocker.
Amatori rested his chin on his hand, his pouting face full of disdain. "I think they could also play a Wing Spiker core quick attack system."
In recent years, Inarizaki's quick attack has gradually become a myth in the high school circuit, characterized by a sense of freedom that refuses to be bound by positions, allowing them to play however they wish.
But it was true; without Hinata's kind of speed to support it, without the suddenness of the Middle Blocker position, it would feel very awkward for a Wing Spiker to play it.
On the court, Sakusa's back-row attack hit Itachiyama's block, tooling the block to score a point for Itachiyama.
The score jumped to Inarizaki 24:23 Itachiyama.
Amatori, who hadn't been very spirited before, almost stood up: "Go for it—consecutive points!"
One more point! Crush Inarizaki into the ground!!
After scoring this point, Sakusa rotated to the front row. Now that the end was in sight, it was undoubtedly a perfect opportunity for a counterattack to secure the victory.
Miya Atsumu let out a light click of his tongue.
Sakusa's Hou Si didn't play that much, but he certainly played well; they had just been confused by Inamura's movements.
Sakusa's hand hanging at his side slowly clenched into a fist. His gaze toward Miya Atsumu seemed calm, but it was as if thick lava was flowing within it.
Miya Atsumu merely glanced up before withdrawing his gaze; Inarizaki still held the set point.
If Itachiyama could still score consecutive points in this situation.. he might as well just go cook with Miya Osamu.
Ishikawa had already taken his position in the back row of Itachiyama, preparing to serve.
Nishizawa Hokuto stood ready upon returning to the court. He hadn't found any particular difficulty in handling Ishikawa's serves throughout this entire set, but there was nothing he could do if Ishikawa didn't target him specifically.
However.. he felt that Osamu-senpai wouldn't let it fly past him anyway.
In this rotation for Inarizaki, Nishizawa covers two-thirds of the court for the first receive, while Miya Osamu covers the remaining third while providing cover for Miya Atsumu.
Ishikawa certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to hit the ball to Nishizawa, whose "strength" they had already verified; his spike aimed for the sideline near Miya Osamu, intending to disrupt Miya Atsumu's attempt to transition from the back row.
But his movements were a bit rushed; his condition near the end of the set wasn't as good as it had been at the start, he controlled the ball slightly off-target, sending it straight toward Miya Osamu.
Having already circled around from the side, Miya Atsumu heard the solid sound of Miya Osamu's receiving and couldn't help but curl his lips into a smirk.
If he couldn't handle a ball like this, he would mock Miya Osamu for the rest of his life.
“Give me the ball!” Ginjima shouted, calling for the ball.
Haseda had also pulled back enough distance, ready to move forward at any moment to spike.
Ogihara forced himself to stay calm; there were no Quick Attacks in this Inarizaki formation, so he would definitely be able to keep up with the back-row attack.
Miya Atsumu gave Ogihara a bit of extra respect; being able to keep his composure in this situation was truly impressive.
But.. who said there wouldn't be a Quick Attack?
Miya Atsumu, positioned near Position 3.5, sent a ball back over his shoulder, just as Ogihara and the others jumped to approach it, Tokura used his long reach to spike the ball.
With a loud thud, the ball slammed into the court at Itachiyama.
Komori, who was a bit further away, couldn't catch up in time while trying to cover for Inamoto, the sound of the ball hitting the floor was exceptionally clear, followed immediately by the whistle.
Inarizaki 25:23 Itachiyama, winning the First Set.
Hinata immediately stood up, grabbing his knee pads: "Nice play!! That was so cool, Yukihito!"
An ankle brace is somewhat difficult to carry, so after he finished warming up his joints and the Coach finished his inspection, he put it back.
Everyone in the waiting area went to the Coach's bench one after another to get first aid kits and other supplies. Kumagai handed the sign to Miya Atsumu, everyone lined up to carry out the court exchange process.
During the halftime break of the match, the crowd in the stands, who had been holding their breath, finally relaxed.
Akagi extended a finger: "Rintaro is a fake 1.9m, but Yukihito is truly over 1.9m."
Hayami, from half a rotation away, looked up and asked, "False?"
“His 1.9m was a rounded figure; he should be a little shorter than that—” As he spoke, Akagi reached out to gesture, using two fingers to indicate a difference of about half a centimeter. "Just this much."
However, such a small difference didn't matter; the physical sensation and the effect during a block wouldn't be much different.
Tokura is different; although the height difference between him and Suna is less than a centimeter, Tokura has very long arms.
When it comes to actual blocking and spiking, Tokura's role is similar to that of a 2m player.
However, Tokura doesn't get many opportunities to spike in normal play, many times, opponents subconsciously overlook this advantage of his.
—Just like just now.
Teacher Gojo was crying his eyes out: "Teacher, I'm so moved—"
Coach Kaku was also crying: "Katsuya—you've grown up—"
Sandwiched between the two, Haseda's grandmother laughed heartily, in a very good mood.
On the other side of Coach Kaku, Hinata's mother looked at the two people who were crying, feeling somewhat helpless.
Well, she admitted that when she saw Hinata take the court for the first time and set the whole stadium on fire.. she wasn't much better than these two.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Miya Atsumu was listening to Coach Kurosu's instructions, as he listened, his expression darkened.
He tried to struggle a bit: "I think my form today is actually quite good?"
Coach Kurosu's tone was firm, giving Miya Atsumu no chance to argue further: "Tomorrow will be another tough battle, so don't be careless. Get some good rest; if he doesn't play well, you'll be subbed in."
Miya Atsumu gave up struggling.
He admitted that the plan Coach Kurosu had provided was quite good; neither Koldorf nor Ogihara were people skilled at spiking through a block. In the previous match between Itachiyama and Karasuno, Karasuno had relied on Hakuma's heavy spikes to break through Itachiyama's block, scoring points through sheer force against the strong defensive pressure from Komori and Sakusa.
But.. shouldn't that guy be the Setter? Why was he substituted in with the purpose of performing a Strong Attack?
Hinata looked at Miya Atsumu from the side, rubbing his hands together with a face full of excitement.
After making eye contact with Hinata for two seconds, Miya Atsumu also realized what was going on.
Oh, so some little guy wants to get a taste of being a Setter.
Atsumu stopped struggling; since he would have two set points in his hands afterward, it wouldn't be a big deal even if he messed up.
He has the ability to clean up the messes left by his juniors; of course, he also has the ability to make all of them cry.
Whether it's Kumagai or Hinata, they'd better pray he doesn't catch them off guard.
With Miya Atsumu's tacit permission, Hinata put on his knee pads and rushed toward Kumagai with a cheer, high-fiving him.
The two of us combined, we're invincible!
Kumagai echoed, "That's right, that's right, invincible!"
Watching both sides take the court to confirm the rotation for the Second Set, Amatori narrowed his eyes in the stands. "Oh? Miya Atsumu is resting."
He suddenly got excited, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouting loudly, "Go! Crush Inarizaki!!"
Iizuna threw a bucket of cold water on the situation from the side: "But Kumagai is also very formidable."
“A setter needs a sharp mind, mature skills, a calm personality, the decisiveness to make bold choices when necessary.”
“Kumagai doesn't lack any of those; the only reason he hasn't stood out is because Miya Atsumu is in the starting lineup for Inarizaki.”
Amatori froze for a moment: "Brain?"
He seemed to have indeed never paid attention to that aspect, but Kumagai certainly hadn't made any mistakes when he previously came on as a substitute.
Previously, his greatest impression of Kumagai was his immense strength and his Dual Wield serve.
Iizuna rested his chin on his folded hands and said with a solemn expression, "Word is, he's a beast who plans to take the Todai entrance exams."
When Tokai University held high school competitions previously, he had the honor of seeing Kumagai ranked at the top. Tokai University wanted to recruit Kumagai through special recommendation, but he said he was preparing to apply for the Todai Department of Science.
It is said that Kumagai didn't take this aspect particularly seriously during his first year of high school, but he only began to strive for excellence after one member of their Volleyball Club went to Todai.
Although he might be far behind Miya Atsumu on the court due to a lack of experience or talent, considering only intelligence.. he felt that even the Miya Twins together weren't as smart as him.
Of course, he definitely didn't think the Miya Twins were just plain stupid off the court.
Really.
Amatori felt a sense of profound respect.
Chapter 525: The Five Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Fox
“How rare, neither side made any substitutions besides the rotation change.” Hirugami, who had already moved to the side of the court, remarked with such emotion.
Their final meeting before the match had concluded; now they only needed to wait for the first round of matches to end so they could enter the court to warm up.
The Women's Volleyball Semifinals were scheduled for the afternoon, so it wouldn't affect their progress.
"True, but they shouldn't be this complacent," Hoshiumi said with a frown, his eyes filled with distrust for both teams on the court.
Although Inarizaki often uses a rotation starting with the Opposite in Position 4, when facing high-level teams, Inarizaki actually prefers to use rotation shifts to catch their opponents off guard.
They, Karasuno, had suffered greatly from it before. Since then, studying all of Inarizaki's rotations had become a mandatory lesson for the players of Karasuno.
The same applies to Itachiyama.
Because Sakusa is not a traditional Ace, Itachiyama's overall lineup is even more flexible, even having a record of having a different rotation for every set in a single match.