"Nice serve, Taichi!"

  "One more ball!"

  Amidst the praise of his teammates, Kaedehara Taichi delivered his sed serve, once again targeting ōhira Reon.

  The volleyball seemed to wobble in the air, but it reached ōhira's position swiftly. To him, it still looked like it was going out of bounds.

  However, having misjudged the previous ball, he didn't dare to take anamble.

  Smack!

  Without much time to react, ōhira lunged forward in a desperate dive to receive the ball.

  "Lucky!" Taichi, who had been watg the ball ily, noticed it veering slightly off-course. Close call.

  "Cover!"

  Shirabu Kenjirō sprinted outside the court to save the ball, and Tendō Satori sent it back over the .

  "ce ball!"

  Hanamaki Takahiro received the ball ly, allowing Oikawa Tōru to set it high.

  Boom!

  Kyōtaarō executed a fwless cross-shot, stunning Shiratorizawa and sg a anding point.

  [Aoba Johsai 9 - 5 Shiratorizawa]

  "This new face….could he be a power hitter?"

  Aoba Johsai's current form had left Shiratorizawa pletely unprepared.

  Beep! Shiratorizawa called for a timeout.

  The turn of events ich was ued! Maers on the sidelines deleted their prewritten articles and began scribbling furiously while watg the game unfold.

  Aoba Johsai now had three pyers capable of sg directly off their serves: the new pyer's powerful jump serve, Oikawa Tōru's increasingly formidable serves, and the surprising jump float serve from their first-year.

  From the very start, Aoba Johsai had delivered nothing short of a spectacle.

  If the ball couldn't be properly set to Ushijima Wakatoshi, even he wouldn't be able to do much!

  "Looks like everyone assumed our strategy to ter Ushijima Wakatoshi was through serving," Coach Irihata said with a rexed smile.

  Even Aoba Johsai hadirely expected this oute. While Kyōtaarō's serving performance art of the pn, Kaedehara Taichi's jump float serve was an unforeseen bonus.

  Judging by his sed attempt, though, there was still room for improvement.

  "Maintain the lead. Don't let Ushijima Wakatoshi score easily. We have to take this first set!" Coach Irihata decisively instructed, determio capitalize on the momentum.

  "Yes!"

  Oher side, Coach Washijō didn't resort to scolding his pyers. They had done all the necessary preparations during practiow, it was simply about exeg.

  "Just focus oing a high receive, the to Ushijima!" His instrus were straightforward. Washijō still pced his faith in individual strength.

  "Yes!"

  With the timeout over, the match resumed.

  Kaedehara Taichi tio serve. This time, the ball flew straight toward Ushijima Wakatoshi.

  Ushijima stepped forward and expertly pushed the ball high. Without hesitation, Shirabu set the ball to the tre.

  From the back row, Ushijima soared and spiked through a triple block.

  Shiratorizawa regained a point.

  [Aoba Johsai 9 - 6 Shiratorizawa]

  Kunimi Akira, who had narrowly avoided injury during a training match against Ushijima a month ago, hesitated slightly while blog, exposing a gap in the defence.

  "Sorry!" Kunimi quickly apologized.

  Iwaizumi Hajime hesitated briefly but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he gave Kunimi a light pat on the back.

  "Don't worry. ball."

  Both teams began to stabilize their rhythm.

  Shiratorizawa relied on Ushijima Wakatoshi's dominating attacks to score, while Aoba Johsai gained ground through secutive offensives led by Kaedehara Taichi and Kyōtaarō.

  Even though their serves didn't widen the scap signifitly in ter rotations, they still mao prevent Shiratorizawa from closing in.

  Gradually, Aoba Johsai's score reached 20 points first.

  [Aoba Johsai 20 - 17 Shiratorizawa]

  Shiratorizawa called their sed timeout. Coach Washijō furrowed his brows, deep in thought. The iy of this match far exceeded his expectations. Aoba Johsai's performance was astonishing, going toe-to-toe with Shiratorizawa's offence.

  Their resiliend strength were not to be uimated.

  "We 't let Aoba Johsai anize such effective attacks so easily anymore," Coach Washijō said sharply. "Kaedehara Taichi and Kyōtaarō—focus on shutting down at least one of them."

  If they wao cim the first set and gain an advahey had to disrupt Aoba Johsai's rhythm and weaken their offensive power.

  "Let's also attack their receiving line."

  The timeout ended, and the match resumed with Shiratorizawa's serve.

  ōhira Reon targeted Kyōtaarō with his serve.

  "Good, no time for a run-up now." With the left-side threat ralized, Shiratorizawa shifted their attention to Kaedehara Taichi.

  Oikawa Tōru quickly stepped in a a high set.

  Kaedehara Taichi leapt into the air, carefully aiming to exploit a gap in Shiratorizawa's block before spiking the ball.

  Smack!

  "Oouch!"

  Shiratorizawa had anticipated the attack, making it difficult for Taichi to find a sharp ao push the ball out of bounds.

  Yamagata Hayato steadied the ball with a dig, and Shirabu Kenjirō set it high.

  As usual, Ushijima pleted his approad unleashed a devastating spike.

  "Three-man block!" Iwaizumi Hajime, Kunimi Akira, and Kaedehara Taichi jumped together, f a solid wall.

  Boom!

  Even though Kunimi had prepared carefully and maintained a solid blog posture, Ushijima's spike tore through his defence, f his arms back.

  The volleyball smmed onto Aoba Johsai's court.

  Ushijima Wakatoshi scored.

  [Aoba Johsai 20 - 18 Shiratorizawa]

  "Nie, Ushijima!"

  "Shiratorizaush forward! Shiratorizaush forward!"

  Although breaking through a three-man block was demoralizing, Aoba Johsai had already anticipated such situations aally prepared themselves.

  The strategy was w! ōhira Reon's serve again targeted Kyōtaarō.

  "Damn it!"

  This time, the serve was even trickier, skimming dangerously close to the boundary line.

  Frustrated, Kyōtani mishahe ball, sending it straight toward Shiratorizawa's side.

  Bang!

  Tendō Satori capitalized on the opportunity and jumped to spike it down immediately.

  Shiratorizawa scored again, narrowing the gap to a single point.

  [Aoba Johsai 20 - 19 Shiratorizawa]

  "S-sorry…" Kyōtani muttered, visibly upset. Even he khat this misstep might shift the game's momentum entirely.

  "Damn it!" His frustration boiled over, leaving him unsure of how to make amends.

  "Move to the side." Hanamaki Takahiro spoke up uedly. "I'm not as good at receiving as Watari or Iwaizumi, but I at least help cover you."

  Kyōtani didn't know how to respond, but he could sehat this was his teammate's way of lending a hand.

  "You're not on the court for your receiving, are you? You and Taichi are Aoba Johsai's primary offensive ht now. If you 't give it your all, we're the ones who'll be in trouble."

  Kyōtani stepped back quietly, processing Hanamaki's words.

  ōhira Reon's third serve once again targeted Kyōtani.

  "I've got it!" Hanamaki called out, worried that Kyōtani might hesitate. He stepped across and received the ball ly.

  Freed from the burden of receiving, Kyōtani started his approach. After holding back for two rotations, he was finally able to attack, leaping to the with visible determination and anger.

  "Guessed—wrong?" Tendō Satori, anticipating Kyōtani's attack, quickly extended his blo front of him.

  The volleyball, however, nded squarely on Shiratorizawa's side.

  "How could I not use such a perfect decoy?"

  Kaedehara Taichi and Oikawa Tōru spoke in unison, their faces lighting up with mischievous, almost smug smiles.

  Without any prior unication, just by Kyōtani's charged-up demeanour, Kaedehara Taichi had guessed that Oikawa would never send the ball in that dire.

  "Right?"

  Kaedehara Taichi gri Oikawa.

  _________

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