The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 426: Kikugawa High’s Strategy to Win the Game! (I)

In the next few minutes, the game suddenly entered a stalemate position. It wasn't like the two teams couldn't score, but more like the two teams couldn't stop their opponent's offense.

For Tsunemori High, with Hirano being rotated for Okamura as a libero, even though it strengthened their back row, it still couldn't make up for the loss of the middle blocker on the front. Riku had to step up there, and while the blonde boy himself was a decent blocker, he was the main setter who should've been protected from getting the first ball, so it still created a hole on the front line that their opponent kept taking advantage of for the entire game.

As for Kikugawa High, they only calculated for the combination between Yuki and Riku, never expecting that Ogawa could join the equation. They couldn't find an answer to Tsunemori's new combination as the addition of Ogawa managed to add more layers to their combination attack, making it impossible for the opponent to stop them.

The biggest winner of the day was of course the supporters, since they were coming here to watch an exciting game. From the psywar and the battle of wits between the two coaches in the beginning, Kaito's constant provocation, and now this wave of offense from the two teams, this was the peak of entertainment for most of the people inside the building.

However, the two coaches thought differently. No matter how they wanted to please their supporters, they were head coach first, and their task was to win the game. It would be better for their hearts if the team could win the game safely without any ups and down. But now, with their team's defense being useless on the court, of course, they started to worry about it.

"Yuki, move back a little! Okamura cannot do it alone on the back! Just let Riku and Asahi handle the front line! Help protect Koji, don't let him be the easy target!" Akira commanded from the bench line.

Yuki frowned a little before asking, "Then, should Jimmy-senpai handle the setup?"

"Yes! It is either him or Riku! Trust your teammates, don't try to handle everything alone!"

"Yes, Sir!"

The same could be said for the Kikugawa High's side. Arisawa Junya was busy instructing his players to set up the formation according to his thoughts so that they could cover the leak on their defense.

"Yusuke-kun, don't always try to cover for Kaito! How many times do I have to tell you, if the others are closer, let them do that? Don't break the formation so easily!"

"Y-Yes, Sensei!"

"Also, Suzuki-kun, Tachibana-kun try to be more active! I haven't seen you doing your usual attack since the beginning! Don't think too much about the defense! Remember, the best defensive strategy is offense! Attack! Attack! Attack! I want you all to be more aggressive!"

"Yes, Sir!"

For the next play, the ball was still in Kikugawa High's hand. It was Ao's turn to serve, but the middle blocker was replaced by a pinch server who looked like a freshman just like Yuki and Riku. However, no one dared to underestimate him, knowing that anyone who was able to play on this stage had their own unique strength.

Just as they expected, the ball was sent shortly to Asahi who was on the top right, and before the captain could catch it up, the ball wobbled in the air, making it difficult for him to receive it.

'A floater?! Shit!'

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Thud!

Even though Asahi managed to touch the ball, it slipped through his hand and bounced slightly to an awkward position. Yuki who was behind his captain moved quickly, extending one of his legs to reach the ball. He succeeded in making the ball float in the air, yet failed to send it to a good position. As a result, Okamura had to even jump across his body and jump acrobatically to send the ball to the other side of the net.

Unfortunately, even with all the acrobatic movements the Tsunemori players pulled, they still failed as even though the ball managed to cross the net, it went too wide to enter the court. Kaito who was close to the sideline just watched it fall and shouted, "OUT!" And when the linesman shook his head and spread both arms to signal that the ball was out, he roared instantly. "HELL, YEAH!"

"Good job, Akito-kun!"

"You nasty kid! You even make them run stupidly to get the ball! Good job!"

"Just keep it up!"

Even Kikugawa High's supporters who were intimidated by Tsunemori's crowd and didn't dare to make a loud sound even with their higher number also came out and showered the boy with praises. It was clear that the pinch server – Akito – was popular in the class.

Meanwhile, on Tsunemori's side, Yuki stepped forward and started instructing his teammates on how to handle a floater serve. As one of the masters in that type of serve, of course, Yuki knew how to anticipate when his opponent had the same arsenal as him.

"Just remember, Senpai! Step forward! Don't try to wait for the ball to fall, it will move in the air! Pick it up with an overhead pass!" He repeated his words over and over again.

"I know. Sorry, Yuki. The last play is my bad." Asahi apologized, feeling guilty as he failed to handle the serve that he and his teammates were somehow very familiar with. "I was just getting off guard by it. The next thing I know, the ball was already in front of my face and I didn't have any time to think about it."

"Eh, don't worry about it, Senpai!" Riku grinned, patting his captain's shoulder. "It is just one point and you didn't know anything about him. Just treat it as the cost of the information. But now that we know he has a floater serve, whoever fails to receive it perfectly next will have to do a set of interval running with the coach, how about it?"

"That is not the time to joke, Riku!" Asahi scolded his kouhai. However, by the small smile formed on his face, everyone knew that Riku's attempt to ease the tension worked this time.

Now that everyone knew that the opponent had a floater serve, they were prepared for what was coming next. True to their thought, when the ball came, they anticipated it perfectly.

Even though it went straight to the area between Koji and Riku on the top left and the left back, they didn't even have to communicate verbally. Koji on the back just took a step aside, letting Riku handle it. As for the blonde boy, he didn't even flinch, going for a quick set to the opposite wing where Asahi was flying already. Unfortunately, the opponent seemed to see that as Kaito and Ao also jumped at the same time. As a result, Asahi had to go for a rebound to give the team a second chance to attack.

BAM!

"Reset!" Asahi shouted as the ball bounced back to their own court.

"Oh! Nice rebound, Asahi!"

"Riku! Pick it up again!"

This time, Riku rushed toward the ball and sent it to Koji on the left wing. This was his second-favorite strategy after his synchronization attack with Yuki. By sending the ball from one wing to another, he made sure to spread the opponent's blockers thin and forced them to run. This way, even though the attack failed, at least he was successful in draining the opponent's stamina, which would be good in the long run.

However, Koji who Riku thought should have an easy time killing the ball failed to meet his expectations, as the ace's attack met the blocker who a few seconds ago was just on the other side of the wing.

BAM!

Koji didn't even know that he was just getting blocked by the opponent. The next thing he knew, the ball bounced to his back, and before he could even realize it, the referee pointed his hand toward Kikugawa High's side, giving another point to the opponent team.

Tsunemori High 15 – 15 Kikugawa High