Height! Strength!
Coach Washijo clenched his fists in the dugout, his eyes gleaming with ambition.
"Such a perfect player!"
"Why would he go to that kind of team?"
"I must make him change his mind!"
"A team relying on just one person will never last!"
In the audience, Mitsuda's expression was one of stunned disbelief.
"What a monster!" He murmured, staring at the court.
"What is it?" Kunimura Naoto asked, puzzled.
"That was an absurdly high spike! But it's normal for a spike to be higher than a block. A spiker gets the advantage of a run-up and step, while a blocker jumps from a standstill."
"No, that's not it," Mitsuda said, recalling something. "The last time I played against him, he wasn't jumping this high."
"That was just a little over a week ago!"
"I don't know if he improved or if he wasn't even using his full strength back then."
"This guy… he's impossible to predict."
Kunimura Naoto swallowed hard. "I'm guessing he wasn't playing at full strength. Otherwise… improving your jump that much in a week is just… too much to take in."
"The libero…" Heiji Yoshino hesitated before adding, "he's a genius."
"Huh?" Both Mitsuda and Naoto turned to look at him.
"You two know Ushijima Wakatoshi is left-handed, right?"
"I've defended against left-handed spikers before! Their spikes are completely different from right-handed players!"
Mitsuda and Naoto immediately understood.
"Oh! The angle of the spike!" Naoto's eyes lit up.
"A left-handed attacker spikes from a different position than a right-handed one! That's something blockers need to account for!"
Yoshino nodded. "For a libero, though, it's a whole different challenge."
"The spin and angle of a left-handed spike are completely different."
"The first time you face a left-handed power spiker, it's almost impossible to receive their hits properly."
"When I first faced one, it took me an entire match to adjust!"
"Then… that means…" They both turned their eyes toward Nishinoya on the court.
"At first, even he had trouble with Ushijima's spikes. But just by the second attempt, he was already receiving them properly."
Seeing Yoshino's expression of shock, Naoto tried to dismiss it.
"Maybe Nishinoya trained against left-handed spikes before?"
Yoshino glanced at him skeptically. "There are barely any left-handed power spikers in Miyagi Prefecture. Who exactly would he have trained against?"
"Erm… maybe someone imitated a left-handed spike for him?"
At this, even Mitsuda looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"Naoto." Mitsuda sighed, patting his shoulder. "You're a spiker yourself. Have some common sense."
"Tell me, is it even possible for a right-handed player to mimic a left-handed spike?"
"Uh…" Naoto turned red and fell silent.
"Alright, alright." Yoshino chuckled. "I get it, Naoto. You were just trying to comfort me."
"But honestly, I'm not shaken by this."
"I've played for years. I've seen countless geniuses who make me look average."
"It's nothing new."
"But Naoto, as a professional player, please don't say dumb things like 'imitating left-handed spikes' again."
"Haha! Fine, fine!" Naoto raised his hands in surrender.
The game continued.
"Left wing! Straight shot!"
"Block him!"
Bam!
Shiratorizawa's defense didn't show intricate teamwork.
Instead, it showcased pure individual strength.
The two teams kept trading points, locked in a brutal fight.
For Karasuno, this was an uphill battle.
Both teams had to rotate players quickly due to the intensity of the match.
After Ushijima rotated to the back row, Akira was also about to rotate out.
Seeing this, Shiratorizawa finally exhaled in relief.
When Akira was in the front row, only Ushijima could consistently spike past his blocks.
The other attackers struggled.
If Akira sealed off the straight or cross-court attack, they had no choice but to hit the ball where Karasuno's back-row defense was already waiting.
Ushijima could score because of his combination of raw strength and refined technique.
The others weren't as versatile.
If they tried to copy his technique, they'd lose too much power, making it easier for Karasuno's defense to pick up their shots.
Without Akira's presence at the net, Shiratorizawa could finally accelerate their scoring.
"Let's go!"
"Take back those points!"