Current Score: 21–22
Just one more point and we’ll catch up. But that one point feels so far away!
We’ve been trailing throughout this first set against Tamaki Commercial. At one point, the gap was as wide as five points. We’ve managed to close it to just one, like now, but in the end, we always fall just short of turning the tide.
And while it might be inappropriate given that we’re still losing, I can’t help but feel amazed—and even a bit excited—at how deep the game of volleyball truly is.
Our style of volleyball, to put it simply, is brute force.
No matter the situation, we rely on open tosses to the left—our ace position. Then either Reiko or I spike to score. It’s a simple strategy, but thanks to our height and power, it becomes a weapon. In fact, we’ve won every game so far using just this.
But… it’s simple. Monotonous. Predictable.
Tamaki Commercial’s style is the opposite. They score through speed and numbers. Even if their defense is slightly off, they still push for a quick attack.
Right now, even though their receive was a bit off to the right side, they still have three spikers charging in: the front row on the right and center, plus a back-row attacker coming from behind the right side.
This is a quick attack—what they call a first-tempo play in volleyball terms.
Oh… tempo. That’s what that means.
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Third tempo: The spiker starts their approach after seeing the setter toss. Reiko and I can only spike like this right now.
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Second tempo: The spiker starts approaching at the same time as the setter tosses.
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First tempo: The spiker starts approaching before the setter tosses. Unlike the previous two, the setter adjusts the toss to match the spiker’s position.
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Minus tempo: A form of first tempo where the spiker finishes their approach even before the setter tosses. It technically falls under first tempo.
The key point is that the spiker starts their approach before the toss. For example, the third tempo Reiko and I rely on gives defenders enough time to prepare and react. There’s a delay between the toss and the spike.
In contrast, first tempo plays are lightning fast. And when all three attackers are running in as decoys, like they are now, it’s impossible to tell who the real target is.
Even if I set up to block the right-side spiker, if the ball goes to the center, my block is meaningless.
So I need to read the real attacker and match my block to them. I focus on the three: right, center, and the back-row attacker—
...!!
No way?! All three spikers were charging in full force and even jumped—and it’s a dump attack?!?
Caught completely off guard! I can’t reach it—!
The ball’s going to fall—
"Hup!!"
I instinctively kick out with my left foot! The ball popped up—but flew off in a weird direction…
"Cover!!"
Eri-senpai shouted. Yui-senpai dashed in and dove, but she couldn’t reach it…
21–23.
The gap widened again…
"I’m sor—"
"Yuuri. Nice fight! You’ll get it next time!" Eri-senpai patted my head.
"Sorry, Yuuri. I really thought I could get to it… I’ll take the next one!" Yui-senpai apologized.
"You’re still new, Yuuri, so that’s fine. That’s why the experienced players—us—are here. The first time they pulled a dump attack, you couldn’t even react. But this time you touched the ball. That means next time, you’ll get it. Right? Feel like you can do it now?"
Eri-senpai encouraged me.
Seriously, what terrible senpai… they won’t even let me wallow in regret for a second.
So I reflect. What should I do next?
I analyze what’s different this time.
Right now, Reiko and I have a poor spike success rate (though to be fair, it’s still over 60%, which is unheard of in girls’ volleyball). Why’s our accuracy down? Because they’re reading our spike directions.
Both Reiko and I can only spike powerfully straight ahead, in the direction our bodies are facing.
On top of that, unlike past opponents, Tamaki’s players show no fear. They aggressively step in to receive our spikes. My spikes are fast—and from an objective standpoint, they must look terrifying. Especially players positioned near the net—those girls are taking hits from nearly overhead. That takes real nerve.
But there are openings. If you look only at me, it’s not like they’re reacting directly to my spikes. It just happens that they’re already in the spot where the ball ends up. They’re predicting where I’ll spike and positioning themselves accordingly—and that creates gaps in the court.
If I could just spike into those open spaces, I’d score easily.
But I can’t.
To spike in a direction different from my body orientation, I need more than just arm strength. I need shoulder flexibility and range of motion—which I don’t have right now.
This technique, “spiking to the straight while facing cross,” is one I’m currently training in. It’s not something I can suddenly pull off in a real match.
I tried once anyway, forcing a shot—but instead of my usual cannon spike, it came out weak and fluttery. Easy to pick up.
I tried forcing a spike in that direction once, but it came out as a weak, limp shot—nothing like my usual power spikes—and it got picked up easily. Honestly, I thought even a weak shot like that might work as a surprise the first time, but the opponents had already predicted I’d resort to something desperate. It’s like they’ve got a mind reader or something—the way they read us is almost uncanny.
Unlike me, Reiko’s got insane flexibility—she’s like some kind of mollusk. She has great shoulder mobility and, while not as strong on the straight, she can hit it decently in practice.
So if she could mix in straight shots, she might break through. But Reiko’s struggling with something different.
After every timeout, the opponents start setting up double soft blocks against her.
Soft blocks are typically used when a kill block isn’t possible—better to make a one-touch than let the spike hit clean.
A kill block is when the blocker becomes a wall directly in front of the spike.
In contrast, a soft block is where the blocker faces the spike with their palms up, absorbing the impact to slow the ball down and make it easier for the back row to receive.
Tamaki Commercial knows they can’t match Reiko’s height. So they ditch kill blocks entirely and instead go all-in on soft blocks.
They touch the spike, slow it down, then smoothly pass, set, and counterattack using decoys and misdirection. It’s a fanged counterplay.
Of course, the soft block doesn’t work every time. But even so—it’s still trouble.
That’s why we can’t unleash our usual aggressive firepower this match.
The blocks aren’t proving very effective either.
I know it might sound arrogant coming from us, but Matsujo’s blocking is tall. Not just Reiko and me—Hina and Asuka, too, can block at a level that matches powerhouse national teams. With Yui-senpai, who can reach over 270 cm at her highest point, even she seems "short" among our borderline illegal-level blockers. We’ve always had three of them at the net. So against spikes at the typical high school girl level, we can easily shut them down.
Let’s think back on our previous matches.
When the opponents tried straightforward spikes, our blocks almost always stopped them. That forced our opponents to start lobbing slow, arcing balls back to our side of the court to avoid getting blocked. And those easy balls were simple to pass to the setter. Once it got to the setter, Reiko or I would spike it.
And since our spikes can blast through opposing blocks, that would always get us the point.
So what’s different this time?
Tamaki Commercial’s attacks are incredibly varied. But the most troublesome thing is probably that they don’t let us narrow down who to block.
Take that last point we lost. We assumed one of the three spikers charging in would hit the spike. In the end, it was a two-attack, but let’s say it had been a spike.
We wouldn’t have known who was going to hit it until the very last moment. We’ve been caught off guard several times and allowed them to spike freely because we got drawn in by a decoy. We have to be aware of all the potential spikers, watch out for two-attacks like the last one, and keep an eye on the ball’s position at all times...
It puts a completely different kind of stress on blockers compared to our open-toss-left-side spikes.
Our receivers must be struggling more than usual too. Before, we had tall blockers protecting them and very few chances for opponents to hit powerful spikes. There are only six players allowed on the court. And if three of them are blockers, that leaves only three to receive. If we let a spiker with pinpoint aim go unblocked, the wide-open Matsujo court becomes easy prey.
…
…
So then—maybe the reason this match is so close isn’t because Reiko and I have lower-than-usual spike success rates.
Maybe it’s because our blocks just aren’t functioning properly?
BEEEP!!
The opponent’s serve flies over. At the sound of the whistle, I quickly sub out. If I tried to receive a serve now, I’d just drag the team down.
The serve is well-placed, and our receive formation wobbles. But it doesn’t matter.
"Yuu-chan!"
Hina sets a careful open toss to the left from just near the attack line.
We can’t play quick attacks like Tamaki Commercial. But we have height and power. Strategy? We’ll crush it!
Squeak-squeak—Squeak!
I take a running start and jump. There are six people dead in the path of my spike. But who cares?
BOOM!
The ball hits one of the opposing players—but just grazes them. It flies off in a weird direction.
22–23
So it’s not like our spikes aren’t working. Just one more point. One more and we’re tied.
Next is our serve. Rotation brings it back to the top—Eri-senpai’s turn.
This is probably the key moment. To break their momentum and score back-to-back points, we have to score on our serve. Usually, this is where we shut down their attack with a block, forcing them into a soft return, and then spike it for the point.
Tamaki Commercial’s strength isn’t just their receive technique—it’s their strategic flexibility, their ability to adjust even when the receive is messy. Unlike us, every one of their players is multi-skilled—anyone can toss, anyone can spike.
Eri-senpai’s serve is powerful, but what’s more amazing is her control. But even when she targets the seams between players, Tamaki Commercial doesn’t get caught up in "you take it, no you take it." Even if we aim for the tight spots, they’ll probably still receive it. Once it goes up, someone will toss it—and with a decoy in the mix, they’ll spike right back at us.
Call it hindsight or whatever, but the fact that they shut down my serve in just one point earlier is still painful!
So… what do we do?
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