National Sports Festival – Volleyball, Girls’ Division, Day 2
Only one match was held on this day as well. However, the battle-hardened and legendary coach, Noriko Akai, had declared that today would be the decisive day—the true climax of the tournament.
And for good reason. Their opponent was the Osaka representative. And representing Osaka was none other than the girls' volleyball team of Kinhouzan Academy High School, the reigning Inter-High champions as of just one month ago.
During the pre-match meeting, Coach Akai had said:
"As you all know, the Osaka team is the top contender for the championship. Their skill level is far above ours."
And then she continued:
"But that doesn’t mean we can’t win. There is a path to victory. And the key to that victory is you, Arimura-san."
“““““Let's do our best!”””””
Both teams bowed to each other from the end line and rushed up to the net.
There, they shook hands with their opponents—the match was about to begin.
(Whoa!! They're tall!!)
That was Yukiko’s first impression.
Kinhouzan’s starting setter, Mai Tobita, was already tall at 176 cm—tall for a girl. Yet, on Kinhouzan’s court, she looked small.
In fact, among the six players on the court, she was the second shortest. (For the record, the shortest was the libero.)
—If you had to describe Kinhouzan Academy’s girls’ volleyball team in one phrase, it would be “big volleyball.” —
That’s what Coach Akai had said in yesterday’s meeting.
This approach strongly reflected the philosophy of Kinhouzan's head coach, Shigeo Otomo. He despised the current trend dominating not just high school volleyball, but Japanese women’s volleyball as a whole:
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Fast, low tosses leading into quick attacks
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Playing a technical, team-based game that compensates for Japanese players’ lack of height
What kind of nonsense is that?
With that kind of play, how many decades has Japan gone without reaching the top of the world?
Not only that—lately, they hadn’t even been the best in Asia.
You say you're short, so you make up for it with technique? Don't give me that crap. If you're short, don't cover it up—find a way to grow taller.
We'll teach "big volleyball" that meets international standards right here in high school. We'll dominate here. Younger generations will aim to be like us, and we'll send plenty of players into universities and the pro circuit. "Big volleyball" will become the norm. And someday, a Japan national team raised in the Kinhouzan way will conquer the world.
Coach Otomo genuinely believes in that dream—and he's doing everything he can to make it real.
As such, Kinhouzan has height restrictions for joining the team (in principle):
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Setters must be at least 172 cm
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Wing spikers, at least 177 cm
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Middle blockers, at least 182 cm
Ideally, he wanted to raise those numbers by 3 cm, but his scouts begged him not to—it would make recruitment impossible. So he compromised.
After joining, these tall players are trained not just on the court but in daily life through dormitory living.
Practice is intense, but what some players find even harder is the so-called “meal training”—massive, nutritionally balanced meals.
Drinks are also restricted. While enrolled, students are only allowed: water, sports drinks, milk, probiotic drinks, additive-free vegetable juice, 100% fruit juice, and tea.
Carbonated drinks? Out of the question. Snacks? Forget it—there's no time or place to buy them.
Practice hours are long, but sleep is strictly enforced.
Thanks to this rigorous regime of training, eating, and sleeping, many Kinhouzan players continue to grow in height during high school, which is rare for girls (who typically stop growing in junior high).
There are even cases of girls growing as much as 12 cm during their time at Kinhouzan.
Because of this natural height, coupled with further growth, Kinhouzan’s average player height (excluding the libero) is an astonishing 184.2 cm.
Naturally, that's the tallest in the nation.
The power volleyball launched from these well-built, well-raised bodies is what makes Kinhouzan the reigning queens of high school girls’ volleyball.
Piiii!
The first set began with a serve from the Osaka representative, Kinhouzan.
First server: setter Mai Tobita.
Her serve? A spike serve—quickly becoming the global standard.
Its power ranked among the best in Japanese women’s volleyball—more like a top-tier pro.
Knowing this, and against a first-time opponent, she often deliberately aimed her serves at the opposing team’s libero, who is usually the best at receiving, to:
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Assert her identity as a top server
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Challenge the opponent: “Try returning this if you can.”
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Gauge their defensive ability before the match flow sets in
Most of Himesaki’s regulars were familiar faces. But the libero today—a tiny girl no taller than an elementary schooler—was someone new.
—Well then, let’s see what you’ve got, little one. —
Tobita’s full-power spike serve flew toward Yukiko.
Yukiko was startled by the sharpness of the serve.
As expected of the summer queen. This serve was far stronger than anything they’d faced yesterday. That Reiko-level super serve, the kind she might barely hit once in dozens of tries during practice, was now being delivered with ease right off the bat...
And that spin—it looks like it’ll rise, but… no! It’ll drop!
Yukiko received the serve as it sharply dropped right in front of her.
But...
“Sorry! It drifted a bit! Someone cover me!”
She blurted that out instinctively—but her teammates responded differently:
“Nice receive!” “Honestly, thanks for even getting it up!”
Only one person on the court—Tobita—felt something was off.
Her serve, while powerful among women, was still just a woman’s serve. It wasn’t invincible. Sometimes, like just now, it would get returned (albeit just barely) in an A-pass.
But that wasn’t what bothered her. Her serves were fast—so fast that first-time receivers usually flinch from the unfamiliar speed and mess up the receive. Yet this tiny libero had received it as if it were normal.
Why?
Off the court, Coach Akai smiled—not kindly, but with a slightly wicked grin. Her hunch had just turned into certainty.
The ball Yukiko received was a bit off from the perfect setter position, but still within A-pass range. As per textbook play, their center went in for a quick attack through the block’s gap—but it was picked up by the opponent’s defense.
That dig returned cleanly to the setter. Simultaneously, both the center and left-side attacker charged in.
A first-tempo double-spiker attack.
Tobita, keeping her toss intentions perfectly concealed until the last moment, set the ball left. But Himesaki’s blockers weren’t fooled—they didn’t fall for the center's decoy, and deployed a solid two-man block on the left.
Watching this fluid rally unfold, Yukiko alone on the court was filled with both admiration—and panic.
Just now, their opponent’s attack had a setter who didn’t give away any tells in her body language until the toss. And yet, Himesaki’s blockers had still seen through it and formed a perfect double block.
From practicing with Hina and Mirai, she knew their tosses had subtle habits. If this had been Matsujo High, their blockers would have been baited, and the left block would’ve been a mere 1.5-man effort.
Moreover, their block wasn’t just solid—it was even in height, and didn’t obstruct Yukiko’s line of sight like the ones at Matsujo often did.
With all that in place...
Yukiko calmly received the spike from Kinhouzan’s left ace.
(Both teams are exchanging this kind of rally like it’s normal… The level is completely different…)
To Yukiko, it was both awe-inspiring and overwhelming.
(It's already the end of September. In just a month and a half, the Spring High prelims begin in mid-November…)
This bleak forecast was more than enough to send her into a spiral of anxiety.
At that very moment, all eleven players on the court—excluding Yukiko—shared the exact same thought:
That spike just now wasn’t from Kinhouzan’s ace. It was from the U-19 ace. The strongest high school spiker in Japan.
And the girl had received it calmly, like it was nothing.
What they all felt, simultaneously, was:
(((((That tiny libero is not normal!!!)))))
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