In volleyball, a ball game though it is, there's no rule that lets you score multiple points in a single play.
You can't get four points at once like in baseball, or score six for a touchdown and three for a kick like in American football.
You can only score by steadily building up one point at a time.
And that accumulation of points doesn’t only come from your own plays—it can also come from the opponent’s mistakes.
In soccer, if someone misses a penalty kick, it doesn’t add to the other team’s score. In basketball, missing a free throw doesn’t give the other side a point either.
But in volleyball, if you spike it out of bounds, the opponent gets the point. Even if it’s a slow, easy lob and you let it drop, it’s still the opponent’s point.
Right now, it’s 21–21. We’ve managed to catch up. Four more points to go. Whoever takes this set moves on to next week’s Inter-High prefectural semifinals.
Reiko’s serve. Reiko uses a jump serve, which is pretty rare for girls. She doesn’t jump with everything she’s got like I do, nor does she swing her arm down like a full-on spike, but with that high contact point, her serve is powerful. And it went to a good spot.
But the enemy’s no pushover. They received it and are setting up for a spike.
Still not jumping. We’ve fallen for this many times. The setter’s going to toss it—
A two-attack!
The opposing setter tried to sneak it over with her right hand, but we pushed it right back. First time we’ve blocked a two-attack! …Though to be fair, we’ve already let Tamaki Commercial get away with five or more of them by now, so I can’t really brag.
That makes it 22–21! We’ve taken the lead!
Next up, Reiko’s serve…
Just barely overshoots the opponent’s end line.
“Don’t mind, don’t mind! That was a good serve! Okay, switch gears!”
Eri-senpai calls out. Yeah, it really was a good serve. Nothing to stress over. If we don’t stay aggressive, we won’t win.
22–22. Tied again.
Now it’s the opponent’s serve. Not very powerful, but they’re aiming for me. It’s too low for an overhead pass, but a bit high for an underhand. If I had to choose (and I really mean had to choose), I’m better at overheads. So without panicking, I step forward two paces to take it overhead—
…Ah.
Sorry. I went to receive it, but it slipped past me and went behind—
“Cover!!”
Eri-senpai yells.
“Yuu-chan, last one! I’m counting on you!”
Asuka, who was behind me, covered for me. The ball goes up high, landing around the center of the net. For the record, a set like that coming from behind is called a "two-step set," and I actually don’t mind it. Some spikers hate them—like Asuka, for example. She’s said outright she doesn’t like them.
Well, in my case, I’ve trained specifically to “forget about receiving, and just spike any ball that’s hit high, from anywhere on the court.” So it’s not like I’m better than Asuka or anything. I’m me, and Asuka’s Asuka. That’s totally fine.
Asuka covered my mistake, and I spiked it. Side note, spiking from the center of the court is super comfortable! It’s easier to choose your angle—whether a turn (spike to the left) or a cross (spike to the right)—than spiking from the left side.
When spiking from the left, you have to change your approach angle or twist your body and arm unnaturally to aim.
Is it just me being weird? I’ll ask Hina about it later.
Anyway, the spike went in. That makes it 23–22!
Once again, we’ve got the serve. And here it is—finally! It’s Eri-senpai’s serve!
As usual, Eri-senpai aims for one of those nasty (well, she'd get mad if I called it that) spots. This time, it’s just in front of ikemen-senpai. Serving there forces their setter—ikemen-senpai—to act as a receiver.
In most teams, if the setter has to take the first touch, the set becomes simpler, and the attack loses variation. Even for a team like Tamaki Commercial, where every player is versatile, their offense will weaken at least a little!
…Yeah, Eri-senpai’s serve really is evil.
Sure enough, ikemen-senpai takes the first touch. It’s a good receive, but now she can’t set the ball. Looks like a backup setter is going to set it. Then—ikemen-senpai #2 comes rushing in. Is she the spiker?
Timing-wise, it’s a minus-tempo attack.
…Wait! So even without ikemen-senpai as the setter, they can still pull off a minus-tempo spike?!
Ikemen-senpai #2 charges in. I move to match her—
Wait, what!?
The set flies out parallel! And there’s another spiker waiting! So it was a fake minus-tempo A quick, but actually a first-tempo B quick?!
Good thing I didn’t jump too soon. I immediately dash toward the ball—block! Just managed to touch it!
But it wasn’t a clean shutout. The ball deflects and drops right near me. I’ve got to pick it up—
"Yuuri! I’ll take it—get ready for your approach!"
It’s Miho-senpai who came in to cover. I follow her advice and move back to get my run-up distance.
“Hina!”
Miho-senpai saves the falling ball and connects it to Hina. The trajectory’s a bit low, but if it’s Hina—
“Hina-nee!”
“Yuu-chan!”
Hina gives a high underhand toss. Thanks to Miho-senpai’s quick thinking, I’ve got room for a proper approach. This is it!!
My spike lands—24–22! Just one more point!
But of course, this is Tamaki Commercial, the strongest public high school in the prefecture. They’re not going down that easily.
They return Eri-senpai’s next serve with an A-grade pass to the setter. And then—what the heck—they launch a first-tempo quick attack using two decoys from the left, center, and right!
We can’t figure out which of the three is the real spiker. The ball lands—24–23.
In volleyball, there are no plays where you score multiple points at once.
You can’t get four points in a single moment like in baseball. You can’t rack up six with a touchdown or three with a field goal like in American football.
You can only win by building up points, one by one.
And those points don’t always come from your own plays—they can come from the opponent’s mistakes, too.
If you kick a penalty in soccer and miss the goal entirely, it doesn’t give a point to the other team. If you miss a free throw in basketball, the opponent doesn’t score from it.
But in volleyball, if you spike the ball out of bounds, it’s your opponent’s point. Even a slow, easy lob—if you let it drop—it’s their point.
In manga or drama, this would be where someone comes up with a new technique, and the match is decided in some flashy way.
But in real life, it’s usually something much more anticlimactic.
What I mean is—
BEEEP!!
Tamaki Commercial’s serve at 24–23—
But the serve hits the net.
It never even made it to our side.
Matsubara Girls’ High School vs. Tamaki Commercial High School
Set 3
25–23Set Count: 2–1
Matsubara Girls’ High School advances to the Inter-High Prefectural Semifinals.
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