27 The Legionnaires 6

During the interval while Coach Hondo was talking to the rest of the team from Itachiyama, Shinya took a seat in the farthest bench from them. He picked up a bottle and settled himself away from the noise of the other members. He gazed blankly into space and ran a replay on his mind. He was trying to focus, trying to figure out what went wrong during the last set.

Both teams were performing equally during that set. The lead changes happened so often and the game was really close. Not one of them scored in more than three consecutive rallies, and the one who was usually behind quickly recovered each time a break occurs. They were catching up to each other, until that moment when Shiroshikata gambled on a substitution and sent in a midget rookie to their current rotation.

Yeah, that's where things started to go downhill. The squirt was an unknown factor that sparked a new offensive option for the Stags. Shinya doubted that the opponents themselves knew about how big an impact that little spiker can do to the game.

The whistle blew, signalling the start of the third set. He barely heard the coach say that they're keeping the same rotation they used in the previous two sets. "That last set was just a fluke for Shiroshikata. Go take back the next." Coach Hondo finished.

'Fluke?' Shinya thought. 'I wonder about that.'

He never had a big head and he knows talent whenever he sees one. And he can definitely say that Shiroshikata's number 14 had a talent for his jumps. Despite his height, he can perform well in aerial combats because he can reach a higher ball, even in the most unusual of places.

The image of the squirt and his diagonal jump paired with a super inner cross earlier burned into his mind. 'And it's not just the height of his jump that is astounding. He's got impressive speed as well.'

Shinya came to a conclusion that it's not the spike's power that caused a problem for them. It's the speed of the attacks that are happening. The last points made by Shiroshikata are all quick hits and quick blocks – their hybrid style of play. And sadly, with the momentum they have right now, they are controlling the game's tempo. Shinya called out his teammates for a quick huddle before the other team can start serving.

"We need to keep up with their current speed." He said to his teammates.

"But isn't it better if we slow down so we can switch the game to our favor?" Their captain asked.

"And prolong the rallies? That will only tire us out." Everybody looked at him. "It's only a theory, but I think Shiroshikata is still adjusting to that new option presented to them by number 14. Their setter is not yet used to toss to that kid. I bet he's a rookie, who isn't also so good yet with receives. So when we serve, aim at him. But when we do a quick, aim at the farthest possible locations in. That way, every one of them will scamper all over the court, breaking their own formation and draining their stamina at the same time." He looked down and paused before continuing.

"When the shrimp moves to the front, along with that number 5 blocker and their ace, that's their best attack formation. So I think, when their setter gets the ball, those three will jump for the toss. When that happens, we do commit blocking on each one of them. The goal isn't to block, but to at least touch the ball. A triple block is useless, especially for nos. 5 and 14. They can just either avoid it or wipe it."

[Commit blocking: blocking not in pairs, but to a particular player. In the context above, Shinya wanted his teammates in front to commit to block the player who stands opposite to him in the net.]

"Time your jump properly." He looked at everyone on the team seriously. "I will toss quickly to anyone whenever I get the chance. Be ready. We will pick up the pace."

The whistle sounded like a warning for them to stop their huddle to they resumed their position on court. When Shinya looked across, the same rotation from last set was used by Shiroshikata.

Maki served and the ball was received by Jao. The ball went cleanly to Shinya who immediately tossed to Toyambi. Hiro and Kouen jumped for the block but the ball sliced through the small gap between their underarms. A quick point for Itachiyama, 1 – 0.

Jao got to serve next and Gai raised the ball. Three spikers from Shiroshikata did a run-up preparation for a possible toss. The ball went to Kouen who tossed in the middle to Hiro. The three-man wall of Itachiyama – Shinya, Toyambi and Suki jumped immediately after the toss, but they were all over the net, as they all committed to the spiker in front of them. As a result, it was only Toyambi who jumped in front of Hiro. He easily got through the block, but Shinya's legs suddenly moved to the side where the ball's falling path was supposed to go. His foot hit the ball and it went up.

"Shinya, nice save!" Boichi said as he got the next touch and tossed it to Jao. Not one of them was able to jump after that quick transition. 2 – 0, Itachiyama.

Jao shot a look at Hiro, who only thought that the wing spiker is still pissed by his "that's Jao we do it" remark earlier.

The next serve by Jao was received by Maki, and the pass went to Kouen, who tossed to Kouha. Suki, who was committed to him, was overpowered by his spike. 2 – 1, Itachiyama.

Coach Soma furrowed his brows at the recent exchange. Kayo asked him about it. "Anything the matter, coach?"

"Hmmm, Izanagi is picking up their pace. Two quick attacks right off the bat. And they're meeting our attacks head on. I thought they'll slow down their tempo, but they're doing the opposite."

Kouen got to the service line next and he launched a jump serve aimed at Shinya. The ball was super fast that none of his teammates was able to receive it for him, so he reflexively just raised his hand and luckily, it bumped the ball, though in a terrible and low manner. "Komori-san! Please cover!"

Their libero's body slid to the floor and his hand successfully got under the ball for the receive. "Toss it over!" Suki got the last touch and just sent the ball over, but when it was about to cross the net, Hiro did a direct, and no one was there to catch up to the cross that cut through their defense. Score's now tied at 2 – all.

Kouen made another nasty serve but Komori cleanly raised it up. Shinya got the next and tossed the ball to Jao in the back, where a straight was launched and aimed at Genji. He wasn't able to receive it. "SORRY!"

Now, it's Shinya's turn to serve and he scored two consecutive aces that were aimed again at Genji. Maki now noticed this targeting and stepped in front of their rookie when the third jump serve came. "Alright!"

Shinya, on the other end, got irritated at the captain's quick interjection of his service rampage. "Tch."

"Asuma!" Kouen called for the rookie and tossed the ball to him. He gladly hit it from the left and the ball was too fast for Boichi to follow for a touch. 'Tsk. This one needs a little getting used to', he thought.

5 – 3, Itachiyama.

7 – 7.

9 – 10, Shiroshikata.

14 – 13, Itachiyama.

In the upperbox, Ushijima's eyes were squinting and his mouth was pouting. "This match is getting hasty." He finally said.

"It's Itachiyama. They're matching with Shiroshikata's speed and are launching more quicks than usual. They're getting more one-touches. They wanted to do this faster in the more efficient way." Coach Hibaraki said in response to his observation.

"Isn't that a bit, reckless?"

"It is. But it's also a smart move to trap your opponent in the illusion of their speed." The coach was playing again with his goatee. "I think Itachiyama will start slowing down later when they think that will happen. If this keeps up, Shiroshikata will realize too late that they've been imprisoned by this fast tempo element, and they will start to panic once the set will be near its close."

Ushijima tried to understand the logic behind what the coach just said but he was too absorbed with what's going on so he decided to just process that data later. On the orange court, the short spiker from Shiroshikata scored another blockout, and the score tied again at 14 – all.

Hiro went out and Gaito went in then Maki began to serve. He aimed it at Shinya, but Garuma stepped in to take the ball and pass it to their setter. "Ok, I see you there." Shinya uttered when he tossed to his back, where Boichi's spiking form was preparing for a kill.

He launched the cross and it hit Genji haphazardly. The ball made a short, awkward arc but Gaito was there to raise it once more. "Waaah, nice save, Gaito-senpai!"

Kouha lunged after the ball and just bounced it over to the opponents' side, where the first touch was made by Komori. Shinya touched the ball next and tossed it to – "Garuma!"

The middle blocker jumped from the center and he was met by the double block of Kouen and Kakuzo. The ball was blocked but Komori followed up on it and got a nice dig that bounced the ball in the air once more.

"Alright, get this Shinya!" Boichi got the ball with an overhand and he made a set to Shinya. The setter spiked it from the right side and it flew out of Maki's hand during his attempt at a receive.

"Yuss! Nice kill, Shinya!" Coach Hondo clapped from the bench. Meanwhile, Kouen made a disgusted face.

Shinya got into serving again and he aimed the jumper at Genji, who got knocked down at that receive. The ball, however, made its way to Kouen and three spikers awaited for his toss – Maki, Kakuzo and Kouha. But he betrayed them all and did a setter dump. 15 – 15.

"Grrrrr." Shinya growled from the back because his serve turn was ended in one fell swoop by that dump. Kouen sent the ball across in the next rally and Komori got it up. He passed the ball to Shinya who tossed to Suki. The freshman launched a cross and he thought he'll score a point, only to be disappointed when Gaito got it up using his foot. The ball flew close to the net and Kouha scored a direct from there.

"Waaaaah!! That foot receive was so coooool Gaito-senpai!! And that straight too, Kouha senpai!!"

15 – 16, Shiroshikata. Shinya glanced a look at his coach and the latter understood what it meant. The whistle was blown. Itachiyama sued for time.