We lost the first set.
Even though the final battle at the net was in my favor with so many advantages lined up… I still lost.
But before reflecting on that, there’s something I need to do first.
I duck under the net and step onto the opponent’s court.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
Apologizing to the player I accidentally hit in the head with the ball comes first. It wasn’t on purpose, of course, but I should still say sorry.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’ve got no brain, so there’s nothing in there to shake anyway.”
The opposing player laughed it off with a bold joke.
But then...
“Hmm. Well then, let’s call it even.”
Saying that, she gently bopped me on the head with her fist…
No, it was more like she softly placed her fist on my head.
“We’re even now. Really, I’m the one at fault for not protecting my head properly. You didn’t do anything wrong. That was a great spike.”
And with that, she turned without looking back and briskly returned to her team.
Huh? What was that? So cool! Even her teammates are as cool as Ikemen-senpai.
Even though they’re both high school girls!
＝＝＝＝＝
“That was close. Let’s go get the next one.”
Saeki-sensei—now Saeki-coach—said this to us as we gathered around.
The reason we’re all huddled up is because it’s the break between sets. In volleyball, teams switch courts after each set. During that time, there’s a three-minute break (well, technically the whistle blows after 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and players have to be on court within the next 30 seconds). This is when we decide on strategy for the next set.
“Coach, how should we play the second set?”
“There’s no special trick. We’ll keep playing the way we’ve practiced. You can’t suddenly pull off something in a match that you’ve never practiced. When you’re behind, it’s easy to want to change things and try stuff you haven’t done or can’t do—but that’s a mistake. In most cases, trying something unfamiliar just backfires and makes things worse. We need to keep our feet on the ground and fight with what we can do. We scored 22 points in that last set. It’s not like our offense isn’t working.”
Oof…
That’s… absolutely right.
“That said, it’s not like we’re not changing anything. We’ll make changes where we can. First, we’ll be serving to start the next set. Usually, that’s Eriko’s serve, but we’ll rotate two spots so that Yuuri serves instead. We got the most consecutive points when Yuuri was serving, after all.”
So that means… the rotation will look like this:
FL: #3 (Reiko Murai)
FC: #7 (Asuka Tohira)
FR: #5 (Yui Okazaki)
BR: #6 (Yuuri Tachibana)
BC: #4 (Hina Tachibana)
BL: #1 (Eriko Itagaki)
L: #8 (Yukiko Arimura)
Net
─────────────────
FL FC FRBL BC BR
─────────────────
End Line
“Yuuri and Reiko have such powerful spikes that it’s easy to overlook, but in volleyball, getting a break (consecutive points) comes down to serve and block. Use the serve to throw off their formation, then shut them down with a block when their attack becomes predictable.
Their team is especially good at turning even slightly off passes into a variety of attacks. This back-and-forth game we’re in right now probably comes from our serves not being disruptive enough and our blocks not landing solidly.”
The word “serve” comes from serve—as in, “to offer” or “to start something,” like giving the ball to the opponent to begin the play.
Of course, nowadays, a serve is not just about putting the ball in play—it’s your first weapon of attack.
Especially in girls’ volleyball, where players tend to have less physical strength than in boys’ volleyball, service aces are generally harder to come by.
To be honest (and I don’t mean to sound arrogant), aside from me, no one on either team really has a serve powerful enough to consistently score service aces.
"In the first set, the team receiving the serve was the one scoring with spikes. Both teams have overwhelming offensive power. That’s exactly why the serve is crucial. I want you all to focus on not letting the opponent attack comfortably. Let's aim for bold, pinpoint serves. If you just try to ‘get it in,’ they’ll just spike it right back. Also, we’re switching our blocking shift from bunch shift to spread shift."
…????
Bunch shift? Spread shift?
"Um, Yuu-chan, you know how we usually gather near the center before moving toward the opposing spiker, right? That’s called a bunch shift. And a spread shift is when the three blockers wait already spread out—left, center, and right."
"Just as Hina said. Until now, we’ve been trying to set up a three-person wall against attacks, but we kept getting outmaneuvered. With the blockers spread from the start, it might become hard to get even two blockers together, let alone three, but in exchange, we’ll always have at least one on the ball. Ideally, blocks should stop the attack outright, but even just being there can pressure the spiker. That pressure might lead to unexpected mistakes. They might try to avoid the block and end up with a weak course. So reducing the opponent’s attack effectiveness is part of a blocker’s job. Don’t forget that."
Hmm. So we’re shifting from trying to shut them down with a full block to a plan that ensures at least one block. It’ll be more like those mini-games, where everyone jumps based on their own judgment instead of matching together.
"Exactly. Everyone should jump based on their judgment. And Reiko, you’re the key in the second set. I know you want to go for power, but it was obvious from the outside whether you were going for a straight or a cross shot."
““Eh?””
““““Eh?””””
The first "Eh?" was from me and Reiko. The second one came from everyone else.
"You might not realize it, but Reiko, your approach run changes between straight and cross shots. I mean, yes, just like I taught, spikes should be hit from in front of your body, and your arm should swing straight down. That’s not wrong—it’s the basics. But in actual matches, you should take your usual cross-approach and just adjust your arm swing slightly to hit straight. Cross shots might pack more punch, but power isn’t everything. Making it hard to read your shot’s direction is a weapon in itself."
Seriously? Reiko changes her approach depending on the shot type? I didn’t notice.
"Still, Tamaki Commercial is amazing. How do they coordinate so well?"
"What catches my eye more than their coordination is how versatile each player is."
"I wonder what kind of practice they do?"
It was Saeki-sensei who responded to this casual conversation.
"If you’re okay with what I know from six to eight years ago when I was in high school, I can tell you. Their coach, Kumada-sensei, wasn’t into muscle training or long-distance running. He believed, ‘The muscles you need for volleyball can only be developed by playing volleyball.’ So most of their practice was game-style drills. Especially in their first year, I heard they spent forever playing 2-on-2 matches until after autumn."
Huh. Game-based practice without muscle training? That actually sounds kind of fun—
"Ugh... Is that true? That sounds incredibly tough..."
"At least back then, it was definitely true. A classmate of mine from middle school went there and was on the volleyball team. I heard a lot from her. Yuuri looks like she doesn’t get it, so I’ll explain. Two-on-two in volleyball is rough. As you know, in volleyball, you can’t touch the ball twice in a row. So you can’t skip tosses or receives just because you’re not good at them. You have to block and spike too. There's no downtime, so you’re constantly moving. I even asked my own coach back then, Ōtani-sensei, to include 2-on-2 in our training. That was tough..."
Saeki-sensei had a deep, weary look as she recalled the past.
"Coach, we third-years also did it in our first year. We called it ‘hell training’..."
"Hahaha, is that so? We called it hell too. The first thirty minutes are okay—you’ve still got energy. But after an hour, it really gets to you."
"Yes. No breaks, your legs go all wobbly but you still have to jump, block, receive, toss, and spike over and over..."
Miho-senpai’s words made Eri-senpai and Yui-senpai start to look gloomy too.
...It was that rough, huh?
"But don’t you think the core training Hina brought in is tougher?"
"Totally. 2-on-2 is more like mild torture, but core training is on scream-level torture."
"Calling it '100 times harder' is oddly accurate..."
...Apparently, the core training we usually do is even more intense.
"Anyway, Tamaki Commercial’s players can do so many things, but that’s also created a weakness. Since they can all spike, they often use decoy tactics, right? It’s a powerful strategy. They’ve got the skills to make it convincing. But even decoys have to jump. That means their total number of jumps per match or set is way higher than average. It’s extremely tiring. Especially today, playing two matches in such a short time must be tough."
"So you’re saying their stamina might not hold up?"
"Not quite. I wouldn’t go that far. But it’s only natural that when you’re tired, you start leaning toward easier options. Like, ‘I don’t have to jump this time—someone else will.’ And if that happens, we can exploit it. But remember, they’ve got 14 players. If someone looks tired, they can just substitute. We’ve only got 8. If it becomes a stamina battle, we’re at a disadvantage. So don’t count on that. In fact, we should avoid a long match. If Reiko or Yuuri can’t keep jumping, it’ll be hard to win."
Hmm. I’m feeling a bit tired, sure, but I can still go. What about Reiko?
Ah. She’s giving me that “I’m totally fine, but how about you, Yuuri?” look.
So yeah, seems like she’s got plenty left in the tank too.
Looking to the side, though, Yui-senpai seems to be struggling a bit.
…Probably because she’s the core of our blocking defense, and since she’s usually next to me on the court, she’s constantly stepping in to cover for me—meaning she’s moving around a lot. I feel bad.
So, for the second set, the core strategy is: aim for a scoring streak with my serve and Reiko’s spikes, avoid dragging it into a long match, and aim for a quick conclusion.
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