We're currently winning the second set. I'm not the main scorer this time, but we’ll probably take this set. Reiko is currently in the front row, so due to the rotation, I’ve swapped out with Yuki and am waiting on the sidelines.
And Reiko is amazing. She’s using both cross and straight spikes skillfully. Well, the straight ones aren’t as sharp as the crosses, but her hitting point is just as high, and the ball speed isn’t what you’d expect from a typical high school girls' match.
She’s always been good at jumping, and her ability to decide midair where to spike to avoid the block is something I can’t do right now.
Or rather, considering how high I’m jumping, I should at least be able to read where the receivers are open… Come on, me.
“There are matches like this too. Reiko kept practicing spikes even when you were practicing your serves. It’s only natural there’s a gap in skill.”
Saeki-sensei says this to comfort me, since I probably look a little gloomy right now (I can’t see my own face, so I can’t be sure).
But no, that comfort’s a bit off. I don’t mind who scores the points. Volleyball is a team sport, and the team’s victory matters more than my individual performance. There’s no need for me to score all 25 points in a set. I just need to play my part.
“...It’s okay. Volleyballs are light. She walked off the court on her own. If something that minor was enough to cause serious injury, heading would have been banned in soccer by now.”
Exactly.
My body may have completely become that of a girl, but I still think of myself as a guy. Even if it was an accident, I’m not heartless enough to feel nothing about hitting a girl in the face with a ball. And if she had ended up going to the hospital because of that...
No, even worse—imagine if it had caused a concussion or something...
It also feels wrong in terms of the match. The player I accidentally spiked is one of Tamaki Commercial’s ace-level players. With their main attacker gone, they haven’t been able to show the same level of combination plays they did in the first set. They’ve even swapped out four players. According to the tournament pamphlet, they’re second-years.
That kind of coordination probably came from practicing the same plays together for years. The balls they could’ve picked up in the first set, the ones they could’ve turned into powerful hits, have quieted down in the second set.
I didn’t do it on purpose, but this isn’t the way I wanted to win.
…Hm?
The player I hit earlier just came back.
She’s talking with their coach about something.
Ah, a substitution. She’s getting back on the court.
If she’s returning to play, that means she’s okay. That’s a relief. I still feel bad about messing up the second set, though...
Huh????
What was that just now?
Ikemen-senpai set the toss, and the returning ikemen—wait, this is confusing. Let’s call her ikemen-senpai #2. Anyway, ikemen-senpai #2 spiked right after re-entering the court, and—was that spike fast?
It was definitely an A quick, and maybe the spike itself wasn’t that extreme, but the timing was? The approach run started even earlier than a first tempo attack.
She was already starting her approach right after the first touch, and by the time the ball reached the setter, ikemen-senpai, she was about to jump. From there, she launched an A quick attack from the center—but something felt off.
“Sensei! What was that just now?”
“That was an A quick using a minus tempo. Yuri, it’s been two months since you started volleyball, so I think you’re beginning to get it, but volleyball is a sport of ‘timing.’ The opponent receives, then sets, then attacks. During that time, we prepare to defend against their attack. If that time is shortened, we have less time to react. So if our timing is thrown off, like just now, we can’t defend properly and end up losing points.
...They got us. I didn’t think they could pull something like that.”
“Why didn’t they use it in the first set?”
“Simple—the conditions weren’t there. That play is hard to pull off. The setter and spiker need to be positioned just right, and the path of the receiver’s return needs to align with the spiker’s approach. Also, switching our block to a spread shift worked against us. Right now we only have one blocker in the center, and that’s exactly where they attacked. In the first set, we had three blockers waiting in the center, remember? If even one of those three had jumped, we would’ve had the height advantage. That’s probably why they didn’t try it then. But in the second set, with only one in the middle, they made their move.”
So was changing our block shift a mistake?
No, I don’t think so. If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to handle their multiple spiker quick attacks. The spread shift might not have been the best option, but it was probably the better one.
・
・
・
Tamaki Commercial’s next attack.
Once again, ikemen-senpai #2 hit a strange spike. What was that? The trajectory was weird. It looked like a spike that went through the inside of the block.
“That’s an inner spike where she twists her arm when hitting.”
“An inner spike… that’s the kind you usually do by running in at a sharper angle to the net, right?”
“Normally, yes. But in her case, she twists her hand outward when hitting. The ball originally hits the palm and is meant to be driven straight down, but she twists her arm to the outside as she hits it.”
“Can I do that too?”
“Try it first.”
I immediately give it a shot. Like ikemen-senpai #2, I raise my right hand, and instead of swinging it straight down, I twist it to the right—
“Ow!!”
“And that’s what usually happens. Unless your shoulder is really flexible, you can’t pull off that kind of spike. But, Yuuri, you don’t need to learn that.”
“? Why not?”
“That’s a technique for avoiding blocks. But you can jump higher than the block, so you don’t need it. Besides, there are a lot of things you need to learn first. And once you’ve learned the basics, no block or receive will be able to stop you. So there’s no need for tricks.”
…Is that how it works? For now, I nod. I can’t really judge if he’s right or wrong, and as she said, I do have a lot of things I need to learn first.
“That could’ve been blocked too, if there had been three blockers instead of one. One blocker might not cut it, but there’s no way an inner spike could break through the inside of a triple block.”
Yeah, that makes sense.
This is another downside of switching our block shift.
Still, why did Tamaki Commercial choose now to show off their new techniques?
The second set is currently 23–15. It would be really hard to turn things around from here. Wouldn’t it have been better to save the reveal for set three, when it would be more effective…?
・
・
・
Could it be… that’s exactly what they’re doing?
==========
A Slightly Serious Volleyball Explanation
☆ Minus Tempo
In a certain weekly manga (you know, Hai○yu!!), it’s used incorrectly, but in real volleyball, a minus tempo means the spiker’s approach is already completed before the toss is made—or they’re just about to jump or are just in the air as the toss is delivered.
(In the manga, it’s some crazy technique where the ball is passed to someone who’s already done jumping and is mid-swing. Wild.)
It’s a fairly difficult move, but even elementary school players can use it when the situation allows.
In fact, I faced it myself when I was still a real-life elementary schooler.
Our opponent was a team that made it to the national elementary tournament.
You can look up “minus tempo” online and you’ll find it quickly.
If you’ve never seen it, I recommend checking it out.
You’ll almost never see it in girls’ volleyball teams though, lol.
In other words, Tamaki Commercial is also a team with some pretty bizarre physical abilities.
I’m starting to wonder if I should remove the “realistic” tag from this story...
☆ Twisting Your Arm When Spiking—Is It Legit?
This is something I started wondering myself while writing this.
Back when I played volleyball—during the era when official balls were still plain white—I was taught that spikes should be hit straight.
They told us: “Don’t use cheap tricks.”
Even in pro matches, you don’t really see players twisting their arms to change the spike course.
Is it something like sumo’s neko-damashi (feinting by clapping hands) or other surprise tactics?
Still, there’s no doubt that it is effective.
So I decided to include it in this story.
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