The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 475: The Second Set (I)
There was a short pause for a moment on the court. All eyes inside the building were still focused on the ball that had just bounced back to Shirayuki High's side. As for the main preparator of the play, Genta, the boy was so flustered when he realized that he just had one of the cleanest blocks in his career. He was too speechless to say anything here, making all of his teammates worried that there was a mistake or a foul that he had made earlier.
"I did it, huh?" The boy finally spoke, albeit a bit lowly. "I did it, huh? Hahaha! I did it! I fucking did it! Eat that shit, you bastard! I did it! Hahaha!"
When the reality finally sunk inside the middle blocker's head, that was when hell broke loose.
"Yeah! Come on, Genta-senpai! I know you can do this!"
"It finally comes! The Great Wall of China!"
"Come on, that is such a cringe nickname!"
"Hey, that is a cool one!"
Even though it was just one point, all of the Shimo High players couldn't help but fall in excitement. After all, this point was probably the biggest proof that Miura's adjustment worked. Genta himself also looked at Ezaki gratefully, knowing full well that if not for his kouhai's deterrence, Takumi and Yuya would attract their defense easily, leaving so many holes that couldn't be covered in their formation.
Meanwhile, on Shirayuki High's side, even though they just lost a point, there was still no hint of wariness in their eyes. They didn't know that Shimo High had already made a meticulous adjustment during the intermission just to fight back in this set. In their mind, they all thought that this was just a coincidence, but their team was still one level above Shimo High.
"Tch! Why would they celebrate it like the end of the world?" Yuya couldn't help but click his tongue in annoyance. "It is just a point, we can return it back tenfold later, right?" While they didn't voice their thought, some of the players around there nodded in agreement.
"Okay, don't underestimate them like that. Even though it is just one point, if they could follow it up with a decent result in the next few plays, we will be in trouble." Takumi did his job as the captain to reprimand his teammates who started to lose their focus. "Anyway, Kuniyoshi, you okay?" He didn't forget to ask his friend whose attack was blocked a moment ago.
"Don't worry, I am okay." Kuniyoshi just waved his hand nonchalantly. "I am just surprised because before I adjust my stance and change my mind into a cross spike, I could see my blocker closing his eyes, definitely desperate. He took a big gamble in the last play, and I couldn't help but think about what if I won it."
Unfortunately, there were no 'what-ifs' in the world, so he and the other Shirayuki High players could only shake their heads and move on to the next play. However, this little information was enough to boost their confidence once again, as they all thought that Shimo High's blocker was just lucky before.
Or... So that was what they thought before something unexpected happened in the game.
In the next few minutes, Shimo High suddenly took charge of the game. The process was a bit slow, and some of their players still made several sloppy mistakes. However, all of the Shirayuki High players could feel that it was suddenly getting harder to break Shimo High's defense.
Tsubasa, who was always active to spread the opponent's line of blockers thin and played a lot of tricks in the first set, was the first one who noticed this. The scowl on his face was like a permanent feature as in the last few plays, the opponent seemed to suddenly understand his offensive method. They would always move and react quickly enough to deter his offense, and hell, sometimes, they would even be quicker than him in terms of reading the game. It was as if Shimo High players suddenly could read his mind here.
Not only that, the other hitters also started to feel the same way. They could feel that Shimo High's defense suddenly got tighter compared to the first set, not giving them any chance to slip through it. They even started to fall into frustration, as even though they knew that Shimo High made a change in this set, they still didn't know about what kind of change it was up until now. If they couldn't even figure it out quickly, they wouldn't have a chance to comeback and overtake the score in this set.
"See? See? You can finally see my greatness, right?" On the stand, the old man who sat right in front of Tsunemori's row smiled smugly at them, waiting to get praised by the young men in front of him. "So, what do you think?"
"Awesome, Old Man!" Riku gave a thumbs-up to the old man without hesitation. Even Ogawa and Kaede who were teasing him before also admitted that the old man's vision was terrifying. They didn't expect that the game would go exactly like how the old man described it before. "So, how did you do it?" Riku couldn't help but ask, curious.
"Oh, it is not that hard. Just a basic observation, a basic skill." The old man tried to be modest. However, the smile on his face really betrayed his thoughts, making some of the Tsunemori players have the urge to hold back their impulsive thoughts to beat the old man on the spot. "In fact, Shimo High didn't make such a huge change. What their coach did was just to switch that Ezaki-boy's position with Senki-boy, and after that, he let the pieces of the puzzle fall into their place patiently. What a good head coach." The old man shook his head a little, staring at Miura in admiration.
"Is that so simple, though?" Riku frowned.
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"Of course, not." The old man shook his head. "You see, their coach didn't make this adjustment in a rush. He observed during the first set and found that Shirayuki High's points mostly came when that Takumi-boy and Yuya-boy were on the same side, and that was because whoever faced them head-on couldn't slow them down, making the other players have to go to support. As a result, their defense formation was in a scramble before, and a lot of holes cracked, which Shirayuki High exploited perfectly in the last set. But now, all the Shimo High players trusted Ezaki-boy to stop them, so they all didn't have to give their support on that side, which made their defense more solid. That is one of the biggest reasons behind Shimo High's change, boy, not just a coincidence or luck that most of the people here spluttered about!"
