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Tamaki Commercial High School – Girls’ Volleyball Club – Head Coach
POV: Daigo Kumada
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So that’s what they went with...
I couldn’t help but cradle my head mentally.
It was the first day of the joint training camp.
The first practice match.
Our opponent was Matsubara Girls’ High School.
I’d wanted to get a read on their movements in preparation for the Spring High prelims, and in that sense, it was a great success.
I thought for sure they’d either build their team around that shorty, Tachibana Yuuri, and go full offense, or else try to shore up their defense. But instead, they went with a third option.
“Asuka! Nice serve!”
“Asuka! Don’t you dare do a safe serve!”
“Asuka! Go for an aggressive serve!”
Tweet!
With the whistle as a signal, she ran, jumped—
And unleashed a powerful serve—strong for a girl—that slammed into our side of the court. We—!
!!
“Naoi! Yokota! How many times have I told you?! If you want to stare at each other, put on some frilly dresses first!”
Damn it! Crap! That one dropped between our players, but it wasn’t an ungettable ball. We just gave them a free point!
These kinds of misses in practice pile up even more during an actual game when everyone tightens up.
Matsubara didn’t go all-in on offense or defense—they came in with a serve-focused strategy. Powerful serves disrupt the opponent’s defense, and then they shut down the weakened, simplified attacks with a solid block. The classic “serve and block” tactic.
They’re trying to make their serves downright vicious.
They already had Tachibana’s little sister, who serves with a power rivaling that of pro men’s players.
On top of that, Tohira and Murai are working on learning spike serves. Meanwhile, Tachibana’s older sister uses a jump float serve.
Then there’s Maejima, the newcomer with her quirky overhand drive serve. These days, you never see a high school girl use a drive serve. They caught us totally off guard. We’re not used to it, and our receives are all over the place.
Tohira, Murai, and Tachibana (the older sister) are all still in the process of mastering their serves, so their success rate is not very high yet.
But at this pace, they’ll have it down by November—three months from now.
Even Nabekawa, who for now is just doing jump serves, might eventually turn them into full spike serves with a powerful downward motion.
Even their pinch server, Shirasagi, has a nasty knuckle serve with no spin.
At this rate, we’ll need to significantly ramp up our serve receive practice, or we won’t stand a chance.
Their blocking is also a pain.
Back in June, they used a three-person block setup with a bunch shift—concentrating all three blockers at the center.
Now, while they’re still using three blockers, the shift has changed. It’s more solid and conservative, you could say, but less bold. They’ve switched to a spread shift, spreading the blockers across the court.
That means every spike will get at least one block on it. On the flip side, you’ll only see a triple block when we try a center spike.
What a waste. Those girls move fast and react well—I’d have kept the bunch shift. It would’ve been easier to form triple blocks.
Then again, every school has its own philosophy. I can’t go around denying that.
Their height has improved since June, too.
They lost a blocker who was over 170 cm tall, but they gained Nabekawa, who’s even taller. Jealous, honestly. Right now, Nabekawa is only decent near the net, and otherwise still pretty raw—basically just a tall amateur. Her underhand and overhand skills still need work. But by November, who knows what she might become?
Speaking of transformations—Murai. Tachibana’s little sister is already pretty wild, but Murai is even more insane. She just started volleyball in April, but if you told me she’d been playing since junior high, I’d believe that more. She already moves like a real volleyball player.
Among the new recruits at Matsubara, Maejima is the real wildcard after her serving. She’s not especially tall, but she’s incredibly athletic. Fast, with great jumping ability.
Shirasagi is an all-rounder. She comes in as a pinch server and ends up staying on the court, doing receives, tosses, and spikes—all at an average or better level. If anyone on their team gets injured or underperforms, she could slot in no problem.
They’ve got the potential to become strong.
But—
“—Ah, sorry!”
“No, that was my bad.”
Their two setters collided, and the ball dropped between them.
They’re trying to run a two-setter system, but it’s not working well yet.
Tachibana (older sister) and Maejima keep bumping into each other or hesitating over who goes for the ball, and they keep letting it drop.
The basics of a two-setter system mean the setter in the back row takes over. But if the setter touches the ball first, the one in the front row has to set. Depending on where the first touch lands, sometimes the front-row setter has to take over.
They’re still not switching smoothly between roles.
Both of them are solid spikers too, so I don’t think the idea of a two-setter system—keeping three spikers at the front at all times—is wrong per se.
But their floor defense is a mess. Strengthening their serves and blocks probably meant they had to cut practice time elsewhere, and as a result, Tachibana’s little sister—while better than she was in June—is still awful at receiving.
She’s improved her reactions and is better at getting under the ball, but she’s still one technical step away. Once she gets that, her low height will work in her favor, making her a stable base for underhand receives. She could become a great receiver.
As for the rest of them, their team-wide receiving skills are nothing to write home about. They have the best receiver in the prefecture, and yet this is what they show?
In short—they’re a diamond in the rough. Once they polish up, they’ll be terrifying.
Practice Match
Tamaki Commercial High School vs. Matsubara Girls’ High School
25–22
What a sloppy game. We made plenty of mistakes with poor coordination, but the other side messed up even more. I’d say about 15–18 of their points were self-inflicted errors on both sides.
A Matsubara student came up to me. Now it was time for the post-match review. This is an important part—not for the students, but for us coaches.
“You girls are probably already aware of this, but your serves are the biggest issue. Just from serve errors alone, you handed them 12 points. You can’t win games like that. I saw your serve drills this morning, and I know you can do better. In practice, play like it’s a real match. And in matches, stay calm enough to play like it’s just practice—”
I told them what I saw from my perspective. These girls have talent. Just thinking we have to beat them makes my head hurt—but it also fires me up.
“Saeki-sensei, Uesugi-sensei, thank you for your hard work. By the way, Uesugi-sensei—I heard this was your first time watching a full volleyball match. What did you think?”
We had a little time before the next match. I may be an old man, but I figured I could guide these two young teachers from Matsubara a bit.
“It was really interesting. Tamaki Commercial’s varied attacks were especially impressive.”
“I’m flattered, though we’ve gotten a bit sloppy. Back in June, when Ichikawa and the others—who’s now refereeing—were still playing, things looked a little sharper.”
“Thank you again for inviting us, Kumada-sensei. This has been a real learning experience.”
Hmm? Looks like Saeki-sensei has caught on.
“Saeki-sensei, you noticed it too? These ‘post-match reviews’... pretty tricky, huh?”
“What do you mean, Kumada-sensei? Saeki-sensei?”
“In volleyball, coaches often give evaluations to the opposing team’s players after a match. But how many matches do you think we’ll be playing against the same teams this week?”
“Ah...”
Looks like Uesugi-sensei just realized too.
“You can’t just say the same thing over and over for a whole week. That means you’ve got to actually observe the opposing team’s players in every match—and of course, you’ve got to watch your own team at the same time.”
Exactly. This week is a training camp for us coaches, too.
We can’t just give vague, meaningless reviews. If we want to say something insightful, we have to observe the opposing team carefully. And that trains us to spot their weaknesses and habits.
And of course, we have to take care of our own team too. Otherwise, there’s no point in playing the matches.
This training camp strengthens us as well.
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Perspective Change
Tamaki Commercial High School Girls’ Volleyball Team – Former Captain
POV: Ichikawa Makiko
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It’s 6:30 p.m.
We’ve finished everything on the schedule for the first day of the joint training camp.
But in a way, this is where the real camp begins—and where it gets the most fun.
Dinner is set up in the cafeteria. The rule is that everyone heats up and eats their meal on their own schedule. You can eat whenever you like.
The only hard rules are: lights out by 11 p.m. sharp, and practice starts at 8 a.m. the next day.
Dinner and bath time are not scheduled.
On top of that, the teachers have gone out drinking.
According to Kumada-sensei: “Adults can’t speak honestly unless there’s alcohol involved.” Honestly, it’s great that there are no chaperones around.
In other words, from now until 11 p.m.—four and a half hours—we can do whatever we want, as long as we’re responsible about it. The gym is open, so you can do solo training, or go to bed early. You can bring snacks and chat with everyone, or bring games and play together!
It’s total freedom. This has always been my favorite part of camp!
There’s a convenience store and a 24-hour supermarket near Tamasho (Tamaki Commercial), so stocking up on snacks is never a problem. Last year and the year before were super fun.
They didn’t prepare dinner for us third-years who’ve already retired, but we can just pick up a bento from the convenience store or supermarket and we’re good.
There are futons available, so if we want, we can crash in the same area where the Tamaki girls are sleeping.
In fact, when I was a first- or second-year, the third-year senpai also stayed the night.
…Well, I’m heading home today, though.
Now then, what’s everyone up to?
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In the cafeteria, Chiaki and the younger Tamasho (Tamaki Commercial) girls were eating dinner while holding a reflection meeting. Hey now...
“Chiaki, if you’re going to have a meeting, do it somewhere else. This is the cafeteria. Everyone comes here to eat, you know?”
“Sorry. We were just doing a debrief while we ate and kind of got carried away...”
“Well, I get how you feel, but this is our home ground. We need to set the example, remember?”
“Yes, ma’am. …Ichikawa-senpai, from your perspective, how did we do in our matches today?”
“You mean the A Team? Or the B Team? Which one?”
“Both.”
“Let’s see—”
I couldn’t watch the entire day, but I told them what I did see.
“To sum it up, you all need to speak up more. Our team relies on coordinated plays. So the top priority is clearly calling out whose ball it is. Everyone has a decent grasp of the basics—especially the A Team.”
“As expected of Ichikawa-senpai! Senpai, are you free later? If you are, could you join us for some solo training?”
“I’m not staying over, so I’ll be heading out before 10. If I’m in the mood, maybe. First, I want to check if any of the girls from other schools seem lost or unsure of what to do.”
“Lost about what?”
“Well, for instance, the Matsujo girls—this is their first time at this camp, right? Being told they’re free to train or play might actually leave some of them unsure.”
“In that case, we, as the hosts—”
“It’s fine. This is exactly the kind of thing us retired players should help out with.”
Joining Chiaki and the others for practice wouldn’t be bad, but I haven’t jumped in almost two months, so I can’t really play. All I can offer is my voice and maybe a few passes.
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Now, to look for the Matsujo girls who might be feeling out of place. First up, I spot the taller of their two aces—looks like she’s been invited by one of the girls from Kurotsubaki.
“Um, you’re Murai-san, right? Want to join us for some block training? Your spikes are amazing—they’d be great for practice. You can treat it like spike training on your end!”
“I don’t mind. But can we swap between spiking and blocking midway? I’d like to work on my blocking too.”
“OK, OK! Looking forward to it. Oh, right, I’m a second-year from Kurotsubaki High—”
So that group is doing block practice. I’ll check in later to make sure everything’s going smoothly.
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Next, I found the Matsujo captain and the new girl.
“Kaori, you’re free later, right? We’re doing a 3-on-3 against the Yoshitani High girls, but it’s just me and Asuka—we need one more. You in?”
“That’s less an invitation and more like I don’t have a choice... But sure, why not.”
“Sorry, Kaori! That was kind of pushy. Nanbu-saaaan! We’ve got our three! Let’s start!”
So these three are doing a mini-game with another school. Nice. Practicing however you want like this is fun too. Mixing teams with other schools makes for a great experience—I’ll make sure to tell them that later.
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Now then, unlike the four who were easy to find, I haven’t seen the other four Matsujo girls—including little Angel-chan.
I checked both gymnasiums, but no sign of them.
I thought maybe they’d gone to bed early or were chatting somewhere, so I checked the big room set up as the sleeping area, but they weren’t there either.
They weren’t in the bath either. Maybe they ran to the nearby convenience store to get snacks? That’s what I was thinking until I noticed light spilling out of one of the meeting rooms.
Ah, maybe they’re doing a volleyball strategy meeting there—or maybe playing a game?
・
・
・
・
The four Matsujo girls—including Angel-chan—were studying (deadpan).
“Um… What exactly are you doing here? Don’t tell me you haven’t finished your summer homework yet?”
“We finished our summer homework in early August. Right now, we’re reviewing first semester and getting ahead on the second semester.”
Wait, seriously? There are actually high schoolers who do review and prep study on their own? I mean, I’m looking at them, but still.
“We were too busy with volleyball to attend summer cram school, and we don’t have any illusions about making a living through volleyball, so we have to start preparing for university entrance exams now.”
“Well, actually these three are studying for the future. I’m just reviewing the first semester. My grades were bad and my mom scolded me…”
Wait, hold up. Is preparing for college entrance exams during your first summer of high school a thing now?
Also, you’re telling me she’s reviewing the first semester because her grades were bad? On her own initiative? In summer break???
Internally I was freaking out, but I’m sure my perpetually-dead facial muscles didn’t show it.
“Yuuri-chan, are you planning to get into college through entrance exams? I mean, with your talent, you could probably get in through volleyball, maybe even go pro…”
“Well, I’ve only been playing for five months. I can’t base my life plans on that. And there are lots of people way better than me—I even met someone recently who’s far more skilled. She’s the kind of person who goes pro.”
Sure, there might be lots of players more skilled than you after five months. But even among boys, there are barely any who can jump as high as you can!
“But Yuuri-chan, didn’t you recently beat a pair who placed sixth in beach volleyball at the Olympics a few years ago?”
“That was because of my partner, Mai-san—Tobita-senpai. She’s amazing. The only high school volleyball player I know who’s that good is Ichikawa-senpai.”
No, stop. Even as flattery, stop. Even I know Tobita Mai is a top-tier setter, good enough to be picked for the U-19 national team. Don’t compare me to that!
But Angel-chan didn’t stop. She passionately explained how amazing I was in the June tournament.
How much of a superhuman am I in your mind, Angel-chan???
“So, Ichikawa-senpai, even though you’re a retired third-year, you still came to this camp to help your juniors? Isn’t that hurting your entrance exam prep?”
Oof…
Angel-chan looked at me with sparkling eyes.
“I’ve got a study schedule, so it’s fine. That’s why I’m heading home today—to get back to studying.”
I bluffed just a little. Sorry, Chiaki. Sorry, everyone. I’m heading home tonight.
And once I got home, I dove straight into my textbooks.
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