Fukurodani vs Itachiyama (FINALS-1)

"Fukurodani is moving on to the finals with us. We have already practiced against them earlier this year but that does not mean we can go easy. Their playstyle has changed since then." Itachiyama coach said. "I have complete confidence in you guys to win so give it your all."

The captain Tsukasa Lizuna takes over, "There team has become more balanced and are not completely offensive. We can't expect Bokuto to do bad since he seems to have some sort of rivalry with our dear spiker Kiyoomi. Nekoma already showed that their blocking cannot keep up when we use a lot of quicks so we will start with that. Once the blockers split up we will move onto to more powerful spikes got it?"

"Never seen our captain come up with such large plans." the libero Motoya Komori whispered.

***

Both teams stepped onto the court while the captains went for the coin toss. Fukurodani won the toss and chose to serve.

While Fukurodani had good servers Itachiyama had some of the best serve receivers. The best of them being Sakusa and Komori. They managed to receive the ball and counter attack quickly. They went for a quick and managed to succeed.

The plan looked like it worked but as the set passed things were getting harder. While the quick worked it soon became ineffective when the triple block started catching up to them. Soon Itachiyam had to take a time out when they blocked 3 quicks in a row.

"While quicks are a good way to mess with our block it unfortunately won't work. They are underestimating our players and the Nekoma setter. The only reason it worked last time was that they were not ready for it. Now that they have gotten used to it since yesterday's match it won't work.

While their setter is good, he does not have the ability to read the opponent as well as Kenma does." Akaashi says.

The coach nodded at that, "That's why Bokuto needs to get the ball more. They will start focusing on defense and Sakusa's attack so it is best if Bokuto starts attacking now that we have the lead."

A fire lit up in Bokuto's eyes, "A showdown between me and Sakusa. I wonder who will win." The playful attitude was gone and he seemed much more serious.

Akaashi saw this and said, "Bokuto entered his zen mood. He has to win now or he might get depressed about it for the rest of the game."

"What's that?" Atsushi asks.

"We had a match last year against Wakatoshi who was the strongest spiker at that time. He became more focused at winning and went toe to toe with points. Unfortunately we lost that set and for the rest of the game Bokuto became dejected and was unable to give it his all." Akaashi replies.

***

The set soon turned into a battle between aces. Unfortunately for the two aces both of them were being stopped. While Sakusa's spin stopped a person from receiving it easily; the blockers managed to stop that. Bokuto had the ability to easily dodge the blockers but they always managed to receive it.

All of it depended on whose defense would break first. Unfortunately for Itachiyama they broke first.

Surukui managed to break through their defense with a service ace. The next serve messed up Itachiyama's defense and Murasakibara got a point with his block. The next two points were similar with Surukui messing up the sets and Murasakibara getting the blocks.

Itachiyama finally managed to get a point when Sakusa got a block out but the damage was already done. They had managed to get a good lead and were close to winning 23:19.

After a few quick back and forth Fukurodani won the set and got a lead in the three set match. [AN: I was surprised when I found out that the finals here was a 3 set match instead of a 5 set.]

The break was short and Bokuto had calmed down by then. Unfortunately that meant that he went back to being loud and energetic.

The break ended and they soon went back onto the court for the second set. This time the plan was simple. Play as usual until the final moments of the set. Then take a massive lead by using an all out attack. Murasakibara would also participate in the spikes and they would try to win the set quickly by gaining points rapidly.

Meanwhile Itachiyama had decided to play to their strengths. They locked up their defense and made it extremely difficult to score. Sakusa was at his peak and was scoring points.

Itachiyama had switched up their rotation to prevent their spikers from encountering the strongest middle blockers. They started to gain a lead. Fukurodani were doing their best to catch up but they were slowly falling behind. Soon a time out was called by Fukurodani. 10:15

Akaashi proposed to go for a complete offensive and the coach agreed. The middle blocker was replaced by Surukui and Fukurodani became more aggressive. Their defense suffered but they started gaining points. While Itachiyama had some of the best receivers in nationals Fukurodani was an offensive team at heart. Murasakibara might have increased their defense to a higher level but they were still known for their offense. After a long ralley they finally managed to catch up to Itaciyama. 21:21

Itachiyama called for a time out and both the team went back to the bench to strategize.