The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 477: Before the Final Set Starts
"Good job, Ezaki-kun! You are our hero in the second set!"
"Yeah! Without you, we will never be able to achieve that!"
"I swear, you are a Godsend for this team!"
"Come on, let's do this again in the final set!"
Even before they left the court for a short break, all the Shimo High players took their time to greet Ezaki, high-fiving the boy and praising him highly for his contribution in the second set. It wasn't exaggerated to say that he alone lifted the team to the sky after they just fell to hell in the first set.
Of course, for Ezaki who was always the public enemy since the incident involving him one year ago, this positive attention was a good thing.Still, after being isolated for so long, he had developed some sort of shy and withdrawn personality, and this kind of attention was enough to make him flustered.
"Ah, it is not just me who played better, but everyone also contributed to our win earlier." He threw the most diplomatic answer here, trying to divert the attention from himself.
"Yeah, everyone did a good job in the second set." Miura, the team's head coach, nodded in approval. "However, you don't need to be modest, Ezaki-kun. You alone scored 14 points in this set, and without you on the court, the opponent would be able to score at least 10 more points than what they got. You alone contributed about 80 percent of our win in the second set, so, just accept the damn praise. You deserve it."
Ezaki could feel blood rising on his face, a bit embarrassed at the constant praise directed at him. However, anyone who knew the boy could see the subtle, delightful smile hidden on his face.
"Okay, you all did a good job before, but don't let it distract you for the next set!" Miura raised his voice again. "We have to move on from this set and adjust our mentality for the final one. Let's not make the same mistake that our opponent made earlier, okay?!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Good." Miura nodded, satisfied. "Although I cannot be sure what kind of change their coach would make, I can make an educated guess here." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in first. When he saw his players paid gave him their fullest attention, he continued, "Our subtle change with Ezaki's position and its purpose should be known by the opponent by now, but I doubt they would make the same kind of adjustment that will put Takumi-kun and Yuya-kun away from Ezaki-kun, so don't worry about it."
Indeed, there was no way Shirayuki High wouldn't find this little adjustment from Shimo High. However, changing position blindly in the middle of the game was something stupid and reckless, let alone doing it for two players. Miura dared to do it because he was confident in Ezaki's ability to deter anyone's offense in front of him, but would Shirayuki High's head coach have the same confidence as him in his players?
"However, Ezaki-kun, you need to be more careful in the next set, especially in the earlier stage." The coach turned his attention to the team's star. "Since they failed to break our defense with their usual method, they would try to use the two hitters who were the bait before as the real attackers. You have to withstand the pressure from those two because if you cannot do that, Shirayuki High will see you as a weakness and start targeting you. That will affect our entire strategy negatively, so make sure you stop them, okay?"
The coach really put a massive pressure on Ezaki's shoulder. After all, this should never be the responsibility of one player, but of the entire team. However, Miura knew what Ezaki was capable of, and he knew that the boy was up for this challenge.
"Don't worry, Sensei." Even though the shyness from before was still there, the quiet confidence that radiated from his face reassured his teammates that everything would be okay. "I will stop any attack coming to my side, so don't worry about me."
Miura smiled, satisfied with the boy's attitude. Inwardly, he was also proud that for the boy's transformation. Just one year ago, he was a troublemaker who was so reckless and never considered anything except for what he wanted. Now, the boy really had this air of leadership around him, making the other players listen to him even unconsciously.
'It seems that the team's captain for the next year has been determined already. Good.'
-0-
As time went by, the entire building became restless, eager to wait for the final set. All the people here were definitely satisfied with how the tournament had gone today. Two high quality games were produced here with all of them had to be continued until the third set. This was definitely a feast for the volleyball fans inside the building.
However, unlike the last game between Kikugawa High and Tsunemori High, this time, the atmosphere was a bit dim. After all, not only was the last game attended by almost 1000 supporters of both teams – something that this game couldn't reach even half of it – but the tension in the last game was definitely heavier. Both Tsunemori High and Kikugawa High had the same stubborn and resilient playing style, making every play seem to be so slow and full of tension. As for this game, Shimo High and Shirayuki High had the same aggressive playing style, making the pace of the game seem to be too quick for anyone who wasn't used to it to follow the game thoroughly.
That didn't mean the two teams couldn't fight like Tsunemori High and Kikugawa High, though. They just decided to abandon their defense for a lot of difficult plays to compensate for their offense in the next turn. Or, in layman's terms, both teams that played right now fought to prove who had the biggest fist of the two.
Of course, this kind of game was also easier to be done by the players. After all, without too many long and exhausting rallies, they could preserve their stamina better for when things got dragged to this point. Just like this time, even though it had already entered the final set, the players from both teams didn't look exhausted at all. They could still chat and laugh with each other as if this game was just something so casual that could be done at any time in the future.
The referee also did the final check before restarting the game. After making sure that everything was up to standard, he nodded at the two linemen who helped him in this game, and finally, after waiting for so long, he blew the whistle, signaling that the final set of this game had begun!
This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.
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