Piiiip!
The whistle echoed. A timeout called by Himesaki's side.
We're currently in the middle of the second set of the prefectural final qualifier for a spot at Spring Nationals. The score is 22–20, and we’re holding a slight lead.
…If we let our guard down, it’ll vanish in an instant, though.
“This is the decisive moment. Just three more points. Let’s go take them!”
“““Yes!”””
Coach Saeki shouted to fire us up.
“Yuuri. I’ll leave the final decision to you, but a spike serve will probably land better than the floater.”
Coach Uesugi gave me some advice as he stared intently at the scoreboard he’d been keeping himself.
…So he thinks so too.
My new serve got figured out pretty easily. Hina’s floater serve hasn’t scored a single service ace against Himesaki either. They’re incredibly strong against knuckleballs.
…Well, that doesn’t mean they’re weak against power hits either. Honestly, they don’t seem to have any clear weaknesses, which is just frustrating. My most effective weapon is probably my spike, but it’s my turn to serve. Considering I’ll be stuck in the back row for a while after this, I’d really like to score the next three points with my serve.
“Hina, Mirai. You don’t need to force yourselves into setter roles just because you’re in the back row. Keep calling out to each other and switch it up as needed. Reiko, Kaori. Your blocks are getting a bit sloppy. Even when shifting sideways, jump up, not diagonally. Don’t hold back on that one extra step. Asuka, your spikes have been sharp lately! Use both the straight and the inner angles depending on the situation!”
Just like she said before—she sees this as the turning point. There’s only thirty seconds in a timeout, but Coach Saeki uses every one of them to dish out all the advice she can.
Taking this set would be huge. It’s kind of obvious, but volleyball resets the score every set. Whether we lose 0–25 or 23–25, a loss is a loss.
But the mental impact is completely different. Losing a set by a wide margin makes you feel the gap in skill—you might be frustrated, but you won’t feel like it was a close one. On the other hand, if we get overturned after starting with a five-point lead like we did in this set, that’d be a huge blow. And the set count would become 0–2. We’d be completely backed into a corner.
We absolutely have to take this set and even the set count at 1–1.
＝＝＝＝＝＝
Perspective Change – Same Time
Himesaki High Girls’ Volleyball Club Captain
POV: Nishimura Saori
＝＝＝＝＝＝
“It’s no exaggeration to say the five minutes after this timeout will decide the outcome of this match.”
Five minutes…
In volleyball, from serve to point, it usually takes less than a minute. We need five points to win this set. The other side needs only three more to take it. We’re on the edge.
In the second set, their surprise tactics caught us off guard, and we ended up giving away a five-point lead right from the start.
We somehow managed to catch up to 20–20, but then lost point 21 to a powerful spike from their ace, and point 22 to one of those brutal spike serves.
The coach probably called this timeout to disrupt Tachibana (Younger Sister) No. 6’s focus. I hope it works.
“It’s not just Tachibana No. 6. Murai No. 3 and Tohira No. 7 are also spikers at a national level. They’re both in the front row in this rotation. Especially watch out for Tohira No. 7—she’s left-handed. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten, but when blocking, don’t block based on the player’s body. Focus on their dominant arm and jump in front of it. Also, I won’t name names, but just because Tohira No. 7 is hitting both left and right doesn’t mean you should use a ‘banzai’ block. If you do that, her spike will just slip between your arms.”
That made me flinch.
Tohira No. 7 might be considered the third-best spiker against Matsubara Girls’ High in terms of power and height, but at most schools, she could be the ace. More importantly, her skill as a spiker is probably the highest.
Especially since the second set started, her approach for spiking has changed.
Left-position spikers like Tohira No. 7 usually approach the net at a slight angle, but she now approaches almost parallel to the net—at an extremely sharp angle.
From there, using her left-handedness to her advantage, she smashes an inner spike right along the net’s edge, threading it past the block. That trajectory is simply impossible for right-handed players.
But if we try to block closer to the net to stop that, she switches it up and fires off a lightning-fast straight spike along the sideline.
Besides being left-handed, she must have extremely flexible shoulders too.
We’re so wary of her inner and straight spikes that our arms probably open up when we block.
The Matsubara spikers show zero fear of blocks. They hit as if they’re determined to smash right through the wall in front of them. So in that case—
“And also, be aware—they might start mixing in feints with their spikes soon. Keep your eyes open.”
……
＝＝＝＝＝＝
The match resumed with the opponent’s serve. From their usual routine came a powerful serve flying our way.
“Akari!”
I called out the name of my teammate who was right in the serve’s path!
She managed to receive it somehow, but with that trajectory, the ball was heading straight back to the opponent’s court.
“Chanbo!” (※ Short for "chance ball")
I could hear voices from the opposing side, but we’re not letting them take advantage of that!
I ran, leapt, and tossed the ball with one hand! A so-called one-handed toss. It’s not the most precise, but I can get more height this way.
A teammate managed to spike the ball off the toss, but the course wasn’t great.
Their libero picked it up—
“Sei!”
With a spirited shout, number 7 from Tohira spiked with all her might. The spike hit my hand as I jumped to block. My fingers stung from the impact.
Spikers from Matsubara Girls often swing at full force regardless of the block.
Are they not afraid of getting blocked?
And that spike just now—number 7 from Tohira was definitely aiming right above my head, between my arms.
If I hadn’t put strength into every single finger…
Or if I hadn’t gotten that advice from the coach during the timeout…
That powerful spike might have slipped through my block.
But that’s just a what-if. In reality, the block was successful, and the ball went back to their court.
The one who followed up on the blocked ball was Matsubara’s proud, petite libero, Arimura-san.
…She really moves well. Definitely the type of player you hate to go up against.
“Hina! One more time!”
“Hina! This time, center!”
Arimura-san’s block follow-up resulted in an A-pass to the setter’s position.
From there, both the left and center spikers called for the ball.
And the one who will toss it is—
!!
Here they switched the setter from Tachibana (older sister), number 4, to Maejima, number 11!!
If Maejima number 11 is setting, then there won’t be a spike from the right side—but since she’s in the front row rotation—
!!!
Two-attack!
Expecting a two-attack, I kept my body ready to shift back quickly—but the toss went—
!!
Murai number 3 dashed to the right side! With Maejima number 11 acting as setter, the right was left open! They’re going for a broad attack!
The players of Matsubara Girls shift tactics rapidly.
And I know it. Once they throw off our rhythm like this…
“Soiya!”
In the end, the spike came from the left. We had two blockers up, but it slipped just past the narrow gap—an absolutely perfect straight spike.
That kind of trajectory can only come from a left-handed player. It hugged the line.
No, even a killer straight like that could’ve been stopped if it was alone. But with our attention divided by the threat of a two-attack and a broad assault, our reaction was just slightly delayed. That little delay affected our positioning for the block.
20–23
“Alright! Two more points! We got this!”
“Asuka, nice key play!”
“Yuki, great follow!”
“Yuuri, don’t hold back—go ahead and get two more points with your serve!”
Cheers rang out from the other side. Their morale was rising fast.
This is bad.
“Stay calm. We can still catch up. That wasn’t an unstoppable attack by itself.”
I’m sure they know even without me saying it—but we’re not at the point of giving up yet.
We absolutely wanted to end this rotation with just one serve from Tachibana (younger sister), number 6—this was already her third serve in this rotation.
We have to make this stop, no matter what—
A serve flew our way that shattered such hopeful thoughts like thunder.
…What was that just now?
Even my teammates could do nothing but watch. That’s how shocking it was.
Daiki-kun’s…
No, that wasn’t just stronger than a boy’s serve—it was stronger than a boy’s spike.
As long as we’re human, we can aim to hit the same serve each time, but it will never be truly identical.
There will always be some variation.
This one must’ve been a “good” serve for them.
…Is that the best serve she can hit? How do we even deal with that…
20–24
“Stay calm. We’ve had matches where the other team got set point first before. But we’ve also come back and won. Focus on this one play!”
That absurd serve nearly shattered our spirit. But still. It’s not over yet.
Matsubara’s tiny ace once again began her familiar serving routine. The fourth serve was…
Ugh…
A floater serve at this stage!
That last serve had left our legs heavy.
I ended up making the first touch. That meant someone else had to toss it instead.
“Henmi-senpai!”
Our first-year Masami stepped in to toss the ball.
And the spike! A good course!
Because of her petite size, their libero Arimura-san doesn’t have a particularly wide defensive range.
The spike slipped past the block—and Arimura-san wasn’t there—
pahss...
With a soft sound, the ball rose cleanly into the air. Even if it was slightly off, that’s easily an A-pass.
The one who brought it up was Tachibana (younger sister), number 6.
I’m not even surprised she managed to receive from an empty area—she’s got crazy movement.
But to be able to receive it that cleanly…
Ah, but I guess that makes sense. She might’ve started as a total beginner, but she’s already been playing for seven months now. She’s probably started to pick up all sorts of things…
The one who set the ball that Tachibana number 6 received was Tachibana (older sister), number 4.
“Hina!”
“Center!”
“Give it to me! I’ll end this set!”
Three spikers calling for the ball from the left, center, and right.
Ugh…
The spikers had already started their approach.
Any of A to D quicks was possible.
Who? Which spiker will it be?
The left, rising in momentum? The tall center? Or maybe…
“Shaaaa!!”
The ball was back-tossed to the right side. Maejima number 11 slammed it down—20–25.
We lost the second set. And thinking about their rising morale, this wasn’t just back to square one—it felt like we were now in a worse position…
Spring Nationals – Prefectural Final Qualifier – Girls’ Finals
Himesaki High School vs. Matsubara Girls’ High School
Set 2
20–25Set Count
1–1
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