[52] Grade 11: Inarizaki Practice Match
Since winning the IH national volleyball championship, Tsurumeikan has not only gained fame in Kyoto Prefecture, but has also attracted the attention of many top volleyball teams across the country.
Almost every day, Coach Fukui receives invitations to practice matches from schools all over the country.
However, he declined all these invitations at different times for different reasons: "The main members of the volleyball team are participating in the national youth team training camp, the national sports team training camp, or are busy with important student council affairs and cannot attend."
—The last reason, as anyone who has read the reports about Heming Hall knows, clearly points to the volleyball team's main setter captain who is also the student council president.
Nevertheless, some schools persisted in extending invitations, with Inarizaki in Hyogo Prefecture being the most persistent.
Director Kurosu seemed to have no concept of giving up. No sooner had Director Fukui rejected him than he sent a new invitation a few days later. No matter what reason Director Fukui gave, his reply was always the same: "We can wait, until the main members of Tsurumeikan have time."
Now, the coaches and players from both schools are finally standing in the volleyball hall of Inarizaki.
As a nationally renowned volleyball powerhouse, Inarizaki's volleyball team is quite large. The group that accompanied Coach Kurosu to the school gate to greet Tsurumeikan was only a small number of the regular players.
At this time, many substitutes and second and third team players were still conducting their daily training in the stadium.
The sounds of hitting the ball, footsteps, and shouts echoed throughout the stadium, filling it with vibrant energy.
Several players resting on the sidelines wiped their sweat and chatted as they watched a group of people in white sports uniforms being brought into the volleyball hall.
"Were those people from Heming Pavilion who just passed by?"
"Is that IH's best setter?"
"She looks so thin. Is she really that strong? She looks like a gust of wind could blow her over."
"Nonsense—if he's not good, are you? With your skill level, you should worry about your own ball control first."
“Their free agents look even smaller than they do on the videotape… smaller than my middle school brother.”
The conversation gradually veered off course, taking on a judgmental tone. Although he knew his teammate meant no harm and was simply speaking without thinking, the starting substitute who had played against Hemingguan still frowned slightly.
So he chimed in at the opportune moment, naturally changing the subject: "By the way, there are quite a few unfamiliar faces among the people who came to Crane Cry Pavilion this time."
As he said, among the dozen or so members of the Heming Hall team who were led by the main players to warm up on the side of the adjacent court, only five or six were familiar faces that he had seen in national competitions or videotapes.
He deliberately gestured with his eyes to Koizumi, who was quietly warming up on the sidelines: "Especially that tall guy next to the captain of Tsurumeikan, he's never appeared before."
Among the many unfamiliar faces, Koizumi was the only player who always stayed close behind the genius setter, and compared to the other seemingly ordinary unfamiliar players, his small, baby-faced appearance was particularly eye-catching.
The team members' train of thought was also diverted by him:
"Did they send the second team out to exchange ideas with us as well?"
"Is it really that bad? The best setter in IH, Imadegawa, and the best libero, Saotome, are all there, as well as that very strong middle blocker, Aoyagi."
Inarizaki Ace, who happened to be passing by, overheard the first sentence: "Huh? Tsurumeikan brought Team Two?"
"—Do you look down on us that much?"
"Calm down," the setter said, calming down the agitated ace. "Their core players are all here, so they shouldn't go to the trouble of bringing their second team to another location for practice matches."
Big Ears, who was warming up and spiking with the senior setter, chimed in skillfully: "Bringing the main players and even bringing the second team over for a practice match—that doesn't make sense."
The ace countered, "Then why did they bring so many strangers?"
Before hearing his teammates' discussion, Ace only noticed the few most prominent members of the Tsurumeikan team—as for the rest of the Tsurumeikan members, he had been following behind them since they came in, so he hadn't seen them one by one. Although he noticed unfamiliar faces like Koizumi, he didn't think much of it.
After listening to the discussion, he carefully examined the group and found that almost two-thirds of the members of the Heming Pavilion were new faces.
The people of Inarizaki had no idea that Tsurumeikan had brought so many unfamiliar players with them not out of contempt—on the contrary, they had solemnly brought more promising members of the volleyball team.
This time, Jin Chuchuan brought all of Heming Hall's most treasured new talents.
After his recent frenzy of card draws, the Heming Hall Men's Volleyball Team has once again undergone a major overhaul—
Although a large number of players were diverted to the women's volleyball team, the pool size is still there. Even if you don't get an SSR card, there are still enough SR cards.
—So the captain of the men's volleyball team successfully assembled a new core lineup consisting entirely of SR cards, except for Saotome, Aoyagi, and Koizumi.
SR and R cards that originally possessed other SSR talents successfully retired and moved to departments more suitable for them, while character cards without higher talents either left or stayed based on their interests.
However, these were things that the Inarisaki group could not possibly know, so they were completely baffled.
Ooshiro, who had dealings with the group from Imadegawa, was appointed as their diplomatic representative by a group of curious onlookers and sent to the vicinity of the Tsurumyoukan warm-up area to find out the reason from the group.
Besides Imadegawa, Oshiro was also very familiar with Saotome and Aoyagi.
Although they weren't in the same dorm, these two often visited their dorm and ate together, so they became almost as close as their roommates.
Knowing Aoyagi's socially awkward nature, Ooshiro pulled Saotome aside.
—As for why not look for Imaichi Kawa?
The second setter captain of Tsurumeikan is now trapped by Coach Kurosu and Coach Fukui.
Regarding the questions raised by the group from Inarisaki, Ooshiro directly confronted Saotome, asking:
Why are there so many new students at your school?
"We selected this new main force under our supervision," Saotome said, using the explanation that Imadegawa had prepared beforehand.
"Huh? Your school's main players are changing so quickly???"
Wei Bai was shocked: "The main players from the third and second years have been replaced directly???"
“He wasn’t good enough, so he had to be replaced,” Saotome said coldly. “The person who replaced him wasn’t a newcomer either; it was a senior who had taken over as a substitute and became a regular starter.”
...How can a team that won the national championship be considered "not good enough"?
Wei Bai gasped.
Is the survival of the fittest process inside the Crane Cry Pavilion really that terrifying?
The ever-changing expressions on Oohaku's face (mgsz) made the Inarizaki team members, who could only see his expression from a distance and couldn't hear the conversation, scratch their heads in curiosity.
Just then, the voice of Director Blackbeard came from not far away—
He also raised the same question to Director Fukui.
Almost the instant Blackbeard finished speaking, several pairs of ears perked up.
Coach Fukui's voice echoed from afar: "These are the new key players we brought here today to learn from everyone in Inarizaki."
Inarizaki and the others exchanged shocked glances.
"Is their Crane Cry Hall being updated so quickly? They're only in the first year of high school now."
"They completely shredded the teams that had competed in the national tournament?"
"But I heard from them that this is also one of their main players, so let's wait and see in the next practice session."
...
With Imadegawa stepping forward and Inarizaki ace flipping a coin, it was confirmed that Tsurumeikan had the first move.
What Inarisaki found most intriguing was the baby-faced boy who was closely following Imadegawa and stood at the service line.
While the Inarisaki group was somewhat surprised, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible—the core purpose of the practice match wasn't to win, but rather to test and train.
Koizumi slammed the volleyball onto the ground like a basketball, listening to the dull thud as it hit the ground.
long time……
It's been a long time...
It's been so long since I've stood on the field again...
Even though it was just a simple practice match, he was still swept up in a frenzy of excitement.
The deep blue pupils, which were surrounded by light blue irises, now appeared almost vertically narrow and elongated like snake eyes.
Koizumi made no attempt to suppress his intense and violent emotions. Instead, he allowed these burning feelings to surge through his veins.
Like migratory birds that have been waiting for a long time and have locked onto their prey, Koizumi's eyes were also fixed on the opposite field.
The hushed chatter of the Inarizaki substitutes watching from the sidelines about Tsurumeikan reached his ears.
It's so noisy...
It's really noisy.
Koizumi took a deep breath, and all the surrounding noise seemed to disappear instantly.
The world was silent, with only his own heartbeat remaining, pounding heavily and powerfully against his eardrums, perfectly synchronized with the thoughts in his mind.
And so, in that absolute silence forcibly stripped away, Koizumi moved—
approach,
Throwing the ball,
Take-off,
Koizumi looked down over the entire stadium from a high vantage point.
—It was like a very, very, very, very, very long time ago.
He also flew in the air.
Now, he has returned to this place that is both strange and familiar.
Koizumi's gaze deftly skipped over the back of Imadegawa's head in his own half of the court, over Saotome watching him with her arms crossed on the sidelines and the expressionless Aoyagi, and over the Inarisaki team on the opposite side who were ready for battle...
The volleyball fell back to the spot where it had been tossed up and then dropped back to his unique hitting point.
Height, angle, distance...
No problem.
Koizumi's palm enveloped the three-colored sphere.
With force, heavily, and recklessly...
— He casually pressed the button.
Just as he took a running start and jumped, the expressions of everyone in Inarizaki changed simultaneously.
Heming Hall has always been known for its skillful play. Whether it's serving or spiking, they emphasize using clever techniques to break through defenses. Their fast attack system, blocking and defense, and Imadegawa's floating ball with spin are all typical examples.
The serves of the Heming Hall team are also very distinctive, with a large number of them being stationary serves. Captain Imaide Kawa has only ever served various types of stationary serves that save energy. Middle blocker Aoyagi is good at stationary quick-drop float serves, while the serves of the other attackers are unremarkable powerful serves.
Although I occasionally switch to other types of serves, they are all basic serves that are not easy to make mistakes with.
Jump serves aren't particularly difficult, but they have a higher error rate than stationary serves—if the power is too light, the serve is likely to hit the net; if the power is too heavy, the serve is likely to go out of bounds.
According to the videotapes of Tsurumeikan that they studied, the cautious Tsurumeikan team rarely used jump serves too much in official matches. They would try to control their own mistakes and losses, leaving enough room for other possible losses.
This unfamiliar player from Heming Hall actually started the game with a running start, assuming a jumping serve posture—
Is it because of practice matches? Some players at Heming Gym have already brought their jump serve error rate down to a near-perfect level, and they want to test it out in practice matches?
So is he going to serve a jump serve?
Or perhaps...
A jump float that's even harder to catch than a regular jump serve?
After all, the floating balls of Tsurumeikan are too exemplary—specifically referring to the tricky floating balls of Imadegawa and Aoyagi.
If they could further develop an even more sophisticated jump float shot, given their control over the trajectory of the float shot...
Blackbeard's expression changed.
Fortunately, this ball was not a more unpredictable float serve, but a jump serve. Although the ball speed was amazing, the obvious spin trajectory made Coach Blackbeard breathe a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, in the practice court, Oshiro was still studying Koizumi's serve posture—
Koizumi's jump serve was so beautiful—the rhythm of his approach run, the explosive power of his jump, the wrist movement at the moment of impact...
He was analyzing Koizumi's series of movements, but it was this momentary lapse in concentration that prevented him from noticing the serve coming straight at him.
"Alan!!!"
"Tailbai——"
The scattered reminders from his teammates came from all directions, bringing the distracted Wei Bai back to reality.
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(Sucking the little ones' paws to replenish mana—) I'm too busy, too busy. I'll reply to the comments later or save them up and reply to them all tomorrow.
The Inarizaki practice match is Kominato's home turf. There will probably be a small part of Shinsuke's role later on, but I won't go into too much detail once I get some inspiration. Shinsuke and Tsuru's main battleground is the Spring High School.
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