“Today, I’m definitely going to make you look bad, so prepare yourself, Ushiwaka Chan!”
“Don’t call me that, Oikawa.”
After Aoba Johsai defeated Dewanoichi Private High School, the championship match between them and Shiratorizawa officially began that same afternoon.
When these two long-standing rivals met, Oikawa was not going to let the opportunity pass without exchanging a few verbal blows. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be Oikawa.
Unlike regular matches, the preliminary finals required a full best-of-five format.
Compared to ordinary games, there were noticeably more spectators in the second-floor stands today. Although only two teams remained in the tournament, the entire arena was buzzing with excitement.
The number of reporters around the court had clearly grown too.
“Today, I’ll prove to you who the true number one ace from our junior high generation is.”
There was palpable tension between Oikawa and Ushijima Wakatoshi. Meanwhile, on the other side, Shiratorizawa’s Goshiki Tsutomu was equally unwilling to back down, directly challenging Asuto.
And as everyone knew, Asuto had always been generous and broad-minded.
So he chose to completely ignore Goshiki’s challenge.
As a result, Goshiki became even more irritated.
Although it was the finals, there was nothing particularly special about it. At the end of the day, it was still only the qualifiers. After exchanging greetings and formal bows, Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa officially began the match.
The first set started with Aoba Johsai serving.
Their opening rotation remained the same as usual: Oikawa in Position 1, with Asuto lined up as the opposite hitter in the ‘Heavy Artillery Barrage’ formation.
The objective was simple: to secure an advantage right from the start.
Anyone familiar with sport understood how important form and momentum were. Even elite professional athletes experience fluctuations in their performance. Asuto had actually felt somewhat uncomfortable in the previous match against Dewanoichi High, just like when the opposing blockers suddenly disappeared.
But that was when they were facing other teams.
However, once the opponent became Shiratorizawa, it was impossible to predict how the others would perform, although Oikawa was guaranteed to be in top form.
Sure enough, on the very first serve of the match, he unleashed a super high-speed serve aimed directly at the deep backcourt corner, giving Shiratorizawa an immediate warning of what was to come.
1:0
Aoba Johsai scored first.
Shiratorizawa’s backcourt defenders were startled, though not completely surprised.
Having faced Aoba Johsai for so many years, they all knew what to expect from Oikawa’s serves. In terms of pure service scoring capability, Oikawa was undoubtedly the best in the prefecture at that moment.
Even Shiratorizawa’s own Great Ace, Ushijima Wakatoshi, could not compete with him on that.
“This guy’s serves are getting sharper and sharper.”
Although Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa had played a practice match before, it could never truly compare to an official game. Even if both sides had taken the scrimmage seriously, there was still a fundamental difference between the two teams.
Bang!
While they were still thinking about it… Oikawa had already launched his second serve.
This time, he targeted the space between the two backcourt receivers. The precision of the landing point alone was enough to send shivers down someone’s spine.
Thud!
The volleyball hit the floor.
Aoba Johsai scored again.
2:0.
Gaining such an early advantage immediately boosted Aoba Johsai’s morale.
Even the cheers from outside the court grew louder and more intense.
“Go, go, go, go, Aoba Johsai! Charge, charge, charge, charge, Aoba Johsai!”
“One~ Two~ Aoba Johsai, let’s go!”
The support today was exceptionally enthusiastic. As it was the final, Aoba Johsai’s cheering section had grown considerably.
Despite the score deficit and the overwhelming support for Aoba Johsai from the stands, Shiratorizawa’s players remained unfazed. They remained as composed as ever.
After all, this was not the first time they had found themselves in this situation.
Things had often unfolded this way in the past. Facing Oikawa’s serves, Shiratorizawa often found themselves at a disadvantage in the early stages of the match.
But ultimately, they had always emerged victorious.
After all, Oikawa was only one person.
In volleyball, where all six players continuously rotate positions, Oikawa could theoretically get a maximum of four serving opportunities in a row, no matter how favorable the rotation might be.
Bang!
The next serve arrived in an instant.
Oikawa was clearly in excellent form today. His first three serves each displayed at least ninety percent of his full ability. Despite being able to see the trajectory of the ball, Shiratorizawa’s libero failed to receive it cleanly.
The ball struck the side of libero Hayato Yamagata’s arm and ricocheted straight out of bounds.
3:0.
Against a red-hot Oikawa, Shiratorizawa’s backcourt defense might as well not have existed.
Yamagata Hayato was not a weak libero, but that depended on who he was being compared to. The fact that Karasuno’s libero, Nishinoya Yuu, could successfully receive several serves from Oikawa and Asuto during official matches did not mean that Yamagata could do the same.
To be precise…
In the original story, during Aoba Johsai’s match against Shiratorizawa, Yamagata Hayato only just managed to receive a single serve from an on-form Oikawa towards the end of the match.
Now, because of Asuto’s presence, Coach Tanji Washijō had conducted special serve-receive training for Shiratorizawa before the qualifiers began. However, receiving was not the same as spiking or blocking. Without long-term practice and refinement, it was almost impossible to make significant improvements.
Unless they had cheats, that is.
Oikawa’s fourth serve ended in an error, failing to clear the net.
Nevertheless, three successful serves out of four attempts equated to a remarkable 75% success rate, an impressive statistic at the high school level.
3:1
The right to serve shifted to Shiratorizawa.
Shiratorizawa’s first server was none other than Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Unlike Oikawa, Ushijima’s serves lacked pinpoint precision, and unlike Asuto’s, they did not possess overwhelming power.
However, his natural left-handedness gave his serves a reverse spin that moved in the opposite direction.
This type of spin was extremely difficult for right-handed receivers to adjust to.
Combined with his own impressive physical strength, which was superior to Asuto’s even if his serves were not quite as powerful, it made for a formidable weapon.
Once he found his rhythm, his serves became an almost unstoppable scoring method.
Perhaps stimulated by Oikawa’s performance, Ushijima was indeed in excellent form today.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Ushijima fired off three consecutive serves.
Each one carried enough power and spin to knock libero Shinji Watari’s arms aside. Ultimately, Watari failed to receive any of them.
In less than two minutes, the score between Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa had completely reversed.
3:4.
The match had only just begun, yet both teams had already torn through each other’s backcourt defenses, leaving the two liberos questioning their entire existence.
After that, Ushijima returned the favor by serving the ball out of bounds, gifting Aoba Johsai a free point.
4–4.
The score was tied once again.
The rest of Shiratorizawa’s players remained calm, as though they had expected this all along.
However, the moment Asuto picked up the ball and walked to Position 1 to serve, the entire Shiratorizawa lineup suddenly found it much harder to stay composed.
(End of Chapter)