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New Volleyball Club Member Introductions
Mirai Maejima
Class: 1-4
Height: 163.2 cm
Max Reach: 280 cm
Desired Position: Setter
Academic Rank: 185th / 216
Hairstyle: Short hair just enough to show her earsFormer basketball team captain. Asuka’s rival and irreplaceable best friend. Often misunderstood due to her rough speech and behavior, but she’s actually serious and loyal at heart.
She deeply regrets being the reason the basketball team was effectively disbanded, albeit unintentionally, and because of that, she’s committed to giving her all to volleyball—not just helping out halfway.
Despite a three-year gap in volleyball experience, she’s still better at it than Yuuri.Kaori Nabekawa
Class: 1-4
Height: 178.7 cm
Max Reach: 295 cm
Desired Position: Middle Blocker
Academic Rank: 99th / 216
Hairstyle: Short hair that covers her earsTaller than Reiko, she’s the tallest first-year at Matsubara Girls' High School. In middle school, she was pushed into joining the volleyball club simply because of her height.
She was always told to spike and block just because she was tall, which left her with unpleasant memories of volleyball.
She admired the more relaxed atmosphere of the basketball club, which practiced next door. In her second year, when the third-years retired and the volleyball team no longer had enough players, she was the first to say, “If we can’t play matches, I’m quitting,” and promptly switched to her long-desired basketball club.
She planned to continue basketball in high school, but—as the story shows—things didn’t go her way.
However, unlike her middle school team, the Matsubara girls don’t assign roles based on height; instead, they fiercely compete for positions regardless of physical differences, leaving her a bit bewildered.Mana Shirasagi
Class: 1-1
Height: 162.8 cm
Max Reach: 277 cm
Desired Position: (Tentatively) Wing Spiker
Academic Rank: 3rd / 216
Hairstyle: Shoulder-length hair tied in a single ponytailShe was enrolled in a serious competitive swimming school in elementary school, which gave her broad shoulders. In the story, she says she quit because there were no nearby swimming schools, but in truth, she disliked how swimming widened her shoulders.
She not only has solid base fitness but also above-average athletic learning ability. Though she’s modest about it, she actually had skills on par with or better than an average middle school volleyball girl—her teammates at the time were just exceptional.
As a side note, she enrolled at Matsubara Girls’ for its advanced academic program and currently has the highest grades in the volleyball club.
Updated Volleyball Club Members
Yuuri Tachibana
Height: 156.1 cm
Max Reach: 348 cm → 354 cm
Academic Rank: 6th / 216
Hairstyle: Very long hair that would reach her butt if let down. Hina changes it up depending on her mood. Always in pigtails during matches.Protagonist of this story. Lately, she’s been strongly insisting that “Everyone else in the volleyball club is crazy—I’m just slightly above average.”
Hina Tachibana
Height: 173.8 cm
Max Reach: 286 cm → 289 cm
Academic Rank: 8th / 216
Hairstyle: Hair long enough to reach her shoulder blades, usually tied at the back of her neck. Recently switched to a ponytail to keep her neck cool in the summer heat.Her latest hobby is styling Yuuri’s hair. She also tried growing her hair out to shoulder length for the first time in her life to imitate Yuuri, only to discover it naturally curls to the left—a revelation that left her slightly traumatized.
Asuka Tohira
Height: 168.7 cm
Max Reach: 284 cm → 286 cm
Academic Rank: 188th / 216
Hairstyle: Bob cut that covers her earsCurrent volleyball club captain. She’s happier than anyone else about Mirai joining the club. Whether that’s because they finally have enough players for matches, or for another reason entirely, remains to be seen…
Reiko Murai
Height: 176.5 cm
Max Reach: 300 cm → 307 cm
Academic Rank: 87th / 216
Hairstyle: Hair that reaches somewhere between her shoulders and waist. Tied in a single ponytail during practice; worn in a bun for matches.The ultimate beginner. Her rate of improvement in volleyball exceeds even Yuuri’s. However, she appears to be traumatized after being utterly destroyed by Himesaki.
Yukiko Arimura
Height: 143.4 cm
Max Reach: 248 cm → 250 cm
Academic Rank: …Let’s not talk about it.
Hairstyle: Bob cut long enough to hide her cheeksThe smallest member of the volleyball club, but one of the top receivers in the entire prefecture.
Although she feels like she has no room left to grow compared to the rapid progress of Yuuri and Reiko, the truth may not be so simple…
Supplementary Notes
Note 1: The spike reach (最高到達点) measurements were taken during the first summer training camp. The reason Yuuri and Reiko have significantly improved their records is largely due to mastering proper volleyball form.
Note 2: The academic rankings are based on the results of the first-year first semester final exams.
Note 3: Matsubara Girls’ High School’s volleyball club is lenient when it comes to hairstyles. Hair lengths listed are current as of August.
Note 4: Yukiko > Hina > Asuka ≥ Saeki-sensei ≥ Mana > Kaori ≥ Reiko ≥ Mirai > Yuuri
Matsubara Girls’ High School Volleyball Club – Advisor & Coach Introduction
Kanako Saeki
Height: 172.7 cm
Age: Turning 24 this year
Teaching Experience: 1st year
Hairstyle: Hair grown to mid-neck, tied at the back
Clothing: Always wears a tracksuit on campusAn alumna of Matsubara Girls’ High School and its volleyball club. Back then, she played as a right-side wing spiker.
Currently teaches P.E. and is responsible for classes 4–6 of the first-years. Teaches all first-year classes during swimming.
Now also serves as the head coach of the volleyball team. Though she brings passion, motivation, and player experience, her zero years of coaching experience show in her many in-game missteps.Still, when she gains the experience to match her passion, that will be the moment the volleyball team truly takes off.
Masaru Uesugi
Height: 171.1 cm
Age: Turning 30 this year
Teaching Experience: 7th year (had a one-year gap between high school and college)
Hairstyle: Sporty crew cut
Clothing: Wears a suit during classes; switches to tracksuit during club activitiesA former Kōshien baseball player and now a Japanese language teacher at Matsubara Girls’ High School (teaches second-years, so he doesn’t teach Yuuri’s group).
A highly dependable male presence in the volleyball club, always volunteering to carry heavy equipment without needing to be asked.Fun Fact: This is his second school assignment. He transferred to Matsubara Girls’ two years ago. His previous school was co-ed and initially lacked a baseball team.
He worked tirelessly to establish one, eventually building it into a team strong enough not to suffer a mercy-rule loss against a top prefectural team.
Although he never reached Kōshien again, he’d just come to terms with enjoying baseball in a different way when he got transferred—
—to an all-girls school where Kōshien was forever out of reach.
At that moment, he genuinely believed God was dead.
Timeline Summary
Note: “X years ago” refers to school years (April–March), not calendar years.
9 years ago
Tamaki Commercial High School’s girls volleyball team wins the prefectural qualifiers for the summer Inter-High and makes it to the national Top 8.
8 years ago
Kanako Saeki enrolls at Matsubara Girls’ High School.
6 years ago
Mika Tachibana enrolls at Himesaki High School. The girls’ volleyball team that entered that year would later be dubbed the strongest generation in school history.
Matsubara Girls’ volleyball team wins the prefectural qualifiers for the summer Inter-High, but loses in the first round of the nationals.
Kanako Saeki graduates from Matsubara Girls’. Fails her university entrance exams and becomes a rōnin (gap year student) the following year.
5 years ago
Mika Tachibana is scouted for her talent as a receiver and switches to the libero position.
Himesaki’s girls volleyball team wins both the Inter-High and Spring High with a second-year core, overtaking the third-years.
4 years ago
Kyouko Tohira (Asuka’s older sister) enrolls at Matsubara Girls’.
Himesaki dominates and wins Inter-High, the National Sports Festival (Kokutai, entirely with Himesaki players), and Spring High.
Mika Tachibana also wins the U-19 Asia Cup as a representative player.
Mika Tachibana graduates from Himesaki High and enters Tenma University on a volleyball scholarship.
3 years ago
Yuuji Tachibana goes missing.
2 years ago
Matsubara Girls’ volleyball team fails to make it out of the prefectural qualifiers for either the Inter-High or Spring High.
Kyouko Tohira graduates.
1 year ago
Yuuji Tachibana returns—transformed into a girl. After various events, she begins life as Yuuri Tachibana.
Matsubara’s volleyball team suffers first-round losses in both the Inter-High and Spring High qualifiers, and their number of players drops to just three.
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