[73] Grade 11: Spring National High School Competition
"There's hope in this game," Akagi said optimistically, wiping his sweat-dampened hair with a towel. "The score difference isn't big; we can grit our teeth and catch up!"
As he said, there was still a six-point difference in the score at this technical timeout, which is more than ten points lower than the difference at the second technical timeout in the previous game. This game really gives people hope of catching up.
"Finally, you've stopped saying discouraging things like 'we're doomed'?"
Inarizaki Ace glanced at him and teased.
Under the teasing of his senior, Akagi's ears turned red, and he stammered, "That was... a strategic statement... to motivate everyone!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Strategically, I almost got myself out of the game," Wei Bai added.
"Stop talking nonsense!" He might not dare to talk back to his seniors, but wouldn't he dare to glare at Wei Bai?
"Alright—Akagi is right, there is definitely hope!" Big Ears quickly smoothed things over, "I feel like my touch is back this game."
"Hope isn't something you can just feel," Coach Blackbeard said seriously, but a smile played on his lips. "It comes from here..."
He pointed to his head, then clenched his fist and pounded his chest, "...and this place, I fought my way through it!"
"yes!"
The fox cubs nodded obediently.
"Alright! Stop chatting and drink some water!"
"yes!!!"
Kita Shinsuke sat quietly to the side. Amidst his teammates' banter, he picked up a water bottle and silently handed it to Akagi, who had just shouted the loudest.
"Oh! Thanks, Kita!" Akagi took it, gulped down a big mouthful, and then let out a long sigh of relief.
The other half of the game.
Akiyama was holding his head, looking frustrated and reflecting on his actions: "Ugh, damn it! If I had been just a fraction of a second faster with that shot, I could have nailed it straight to the floor! And that libero caught it! I'm so angry!"
"Alright, alright," Saotome said nonchalantly, handing him the water bottle. "Go ahead and drink your water. Are you trying to nail the referee to the floor with your loud voice?"
Imadegawa was quietly wiping his slightly sweaty neck when he heard this, without even looking up: "Hmm, Kenya's voice is indeed very penetrating. Next time, we can consider using sonic attacks. Maybe it can directly cause the opponent to lose points."
Akiyama nearly choked on his water: "Kozuki! Even you!... I was just in a hurry!"
"Although you received that ball, you successfully disrupted the opponent's first pass accuracy. Their setter could only make a barely acceptable adjustment, which created a great counter-attack opportunity for us," Saotome said.
"What's the use? We didn't score any points..." Akiyama muttered.
"How is it not working?" Qingliu, who was quietly drinking water, suddenly whispered. He had almost buried half of his face behind the water bottle, only revealing a pair of slightly drooping eyes.
His voice was muffled: "The opposing team's formation was disrupted for three seconds while they were saving the ball... I failed to capitalize on the opportunity during the subsequent counter-attack..."
Aoyagi was rotating to the back row when the opponent's spike came. He was both urgent and heavy, and although he managed to pass the ball by instinct, the quality of his first pass was not high. The arc was too flat and the speed was too fast, which directly led to the subsequent counterattack being organized in a very rushed manner.
The setter position, filled by Koizumi, and his own spike, were ultimately neutralized by the opponent's block.
Looking at his withdrawn appearance, almost huddled under the chair, Akiyama said sincerely, "It's mainly my fault. If I hadn't given him that chance, there wouldn't have been any subsequent mistakes."
Aoyagi didn't respond, but silently hid her face behind the water bottle again, leaving only her soft hair and a pair of downcast eyes whose emotions were hard to discern.
Akiyama, who is 1.9 meters tall, simply squatted down next to his chair, trying to lower his gaze to look at him.
Even curled up like that, he still looked very big, like a large, bewildered dog.
But this slightly aggrieved posture also gave him a clumsy and cute look that contrasted sharply with his physique.
Seeing that Qingliu still didn't move, Qiushan sighed with worry, his voice lowering: "If only I were stronger, I could have just broken through them..."
"Then Xiaoxu won't blame herself for not being able to make up for my mistakes, and Xiaoqian and Xiaomin won't have to go through so much trouble to cover for us every time."
As a middle blocker, his and Aoyagi's passing and defensive skills are naturally not as proficient as Saotome and Koizumi's.
In the Tsurumeikan team, which boasts an extreme defensive system, their defensive abilities are indeed far superior to those of middle blockers from ordinary national-level volleyball powerhouses. However, compared to the "defensive core" libero Saotome and the all-around opposite hitter Koizumi, the gap is still clearly visible.
Even with the extremely tight defensive system of Hemingguan, in the ever-changing game, no one can guarantee that every ball from the opponent will be perfectly handled by the most suitable person.
A chaotic shift between offense and defense, an opponent's unexpected tactical attack, or a momentary hesitation in judgment can all create a tricky crisis.
Therefore, when faced with spikes that are difficult to handle due to their tricky angles, heavy force, or unpredictable trajectories, they often need to rely on these two players to make up for the missed opportunities.
This dependence, over time, transforms into a complex emotional state.
On one hand, there is a deep, almost blind trust and sense of security. They know clearly that no matter how tricky the opponent's spike is, there will always be teammates behind them to step up and turn the danger into safety.
On the other hand, this dependence is also accompanied by a slight sense of frustration and resentment—frustration at not being able to be stronger, and resentment at always needing others to cover for one's mistakes or the limits of one's abilities.
This emotion is especially strong after a mistake, like tiny thorns pricking a proud heart.
Just like Aoyagi, who is now curled up in a chair, trying to digest his self-blame with silence; and like Akiyama, who is squatting to the side, grabbing his hair, his tone full of frustration at not being able to stand on his own.
"Dependency is not a weakness."
A light, cheerful voice suddenly broke the somewhat heavy atmosphere.
Koizumi appeared out of nowhere, her innocent-looking baby face radiating harmlessness. She said casually, "Akiyama-chan, don't worry. If you can't get through in one shot, just aim at the same person and shoot a few more times."
He tilted his head and continued in his sweet, soft voice, uttering rather terrifying words: "Once his arm goes numb, or he starts to get scared... then he won't be able to defend himself anymore~"
After he finished speaking, he gave Akiyama a pure and warm smile, like that of an angel.
There was a moment of silence.
Even Jin Chuchuan paused for a moment while wiping his sweat.
(eQLG) Saotome silently moved half a step to the side and muttered to herself, "...I suddenly feel a little sorry for Inarisaki."
“Minato, you…” Akiyama blinked.
He seemed to have been opened to a new world, clenching one fist and pounding it into the palm of the other hand. "That's right! Kominato, you're right! Let's do it this way!"
"Hmm." Imadegawa put down the towel and concluded, "Building deterrence by continuously attacking the same point, forcing the opponent to have a physical or psychological weakness, is also an effective tactic. Ken can try it too."
He affirmed his teammates' tactical approach of "breaking through at one point," and then turned his gaze to the side, landing on the figure who was almost completely hiding in the shadow of the chair.
Imadegawa paused, his voice softening slightly: "...and Mio too."
He called out Aoyagi's name, "Your observation and judgment of the opponent's defensive formation just now was very good. Keep it up."
Aoyagi's shoulders twitched slightly. Although she didn't immediately raise her head, her tense back seemed to relax a little.
The brief timeout passed quickly amidst simple exchanges between the two teams and analysis by the supervisors.
The whistle blew, it was time to get back on the field.
The Inarizaki team members didn't seem nervous at all; instead, they looked eager to try.
The members of the Crane Cry Pavilion appeared more composed, confident and unafraid of the battle to come.
Because it was the technical timeout reached by Hemingguan, the serve remained in Hemingguan's hands after the timeout.
Koizumi, holding a volleyball, walked briskly towards the backcourt service area.
He still wore that obedient expression on his face, even tilting his head slightly, as if observing the hair extension formation that Inarisaki had just adjusted.
The referee blew the whistle to signal the ball to be served.
Koizumi's smile remained, but a sharp glint appeared in his eyes.
Instead of opting for a powerful jump serve, he used an overhand serve to gently hit the volleyball.
The two-color ball traced a low, flat arc.
The volleyball's ultimate goal was not to exploit Inarizaki's defensive gaps, but to chase after one of Inarizaki's players in the chest!
The ball wasn't fast, but it came very suddenly.
The point is to exploit the awkwardness and haste of the receiver when handling such close-range balls.
After playing more than a game against Tsurumeikan, Oji was momentarily stunned by Koizumi's sudden body shot.
In the past one or more matches, Koizumi mostly used a more powerful and faster jump serve when serving.
While slightly easier to handle than Akiyama's cannonball-like jump serve, it is still far more difficult to receive than a regular stationary serve.
If it weren't for the serve coming so deliberately straight at him, he would have almost forgotten—or rather, in the heat of the moment, had no time to recall that practice match with Tsurumeikan long ago.
During that practice match, Inarizaki clearly analyzed that Koizumi was an extremely skilled player who was adept at finding gaps in his opponent's positioning and delivering body shots.
The most difficult thing to deal with when Koizumi serves a body shot is not its power or speed, but the extremely "awful" landing point it chooses – it forces the receiver to adjust their body posture in a very short time and complete the receiving action in an extremely awkward position, greatly increasing the risk of error.
The sluggishness of consciousness leads to the sluggishness of movement.
In his haste, Da Er could only manage to turn sideways and try to use his forearm to cushion the ball, but the spin and landing point of the ball were beyond his comfort zone.
The quality of the first pass was predictably poor; the ball was low and floated, losing speed and flying straight towards the setter's position.
However, it is not a height or angle from which one can comfortably organize an attack.
"One touch!" Big Ears shouted hurriedly, his voice tinged with frustration.
Setter Inarisaki quickly judged the ball's landing point and had to take two steps back and jump to handle this somewhat tricky set ball.
The planned quick counterattack was disrupted at this moment by Koizumi's seemingly light but actually vicious body shot.
————————!!————————
(Suck the little ones' paws to replenish your energy)
So tired—I'll save up my comments and reply later—I've been incredibly busy three times already—
It seems like Kominato's attributes haven't been released yet (thinking).
I almost forgot. I'll see how much inspiration Inarisaki has for Kominato, and then release the chapter with a high proportion of Kominato content. If not much, I'll probably release the one with Fukutani.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
