Sakusa Kiyoomi had managed to narrow the gap from three points to just one with his powerful serves.
However, including a mid-game timeout, it took less than three minutes for the difference not only to return, but to grow by another point, making it a four-point lead.
The players of Itachiyama, who had just barely regained their composure, began to show signs of wavering once again.
Thankfully, Akashi Asuka's fourth serve didn't land well, he sent it straight into the net. If he'd kept serving like that, who knows what kind of chaos might've followed.
Even so,
The score now stood at 10–7.
A three-point lead with serving advantage, if this were any other team, Itachiyama wouldn't be worried. In fact, they might even find the challenge more exciting.
After all, turning the tide under pressure is one of the most satisfying feelings in sports.
But when your opponent is Aoba Johsai, it's a completely different story.
"Unbelievable... If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never believe that this Aoba Johsai team lost badly to Itachiyama last year…"
Even the commentator's words from the stands captured the thoughts of the crowd.
Some of Itachiyama's own players were beginning to doubt their memories. Did we really win the national Interhigh last summer? Or was it actually Aoba Johsai?
Because in today's match, they were the ones getting completely overwhelmed and dominated.
"Relax. It's fine. The team that gets the early lead usually ends up losing anyway. So technically, we've got the advantage," someone from the team suddenly chimed in with an incredible attempt at reassurance.
Captain Tsukasa Iizuna looked at him strangely. "Where on earth are you getting that logic from?"
"I watch a lot of anime. That's how it always goes, right? The bigger the early lead, the worse the loss."
Iizuna twitched. "Since when has Itachiyama ever lost a match where we had the lead in the first set?"
"Ah… well…"
The self-proclaimed morale booster was promptly silenced.
The match continued.
Although Akashi Asuka had faulted his serve, he had already won Aoba Johsai the right to attack, and he immediately capitalized on it, spiking from the back row to claim another point.
But even after scoring, Akashi didn't look particularly thrilled. Instead, he frowned slightly.
"Blocked again?"
His spike had been read, again, by Motoya Komori, who anticipated the trajectory. Although Komori still failed to make a successful receive, this marked the third consecutive time he had made contact with one of Akashi's spikes.
11–7.
Itachiyama moved into an offensive rotation.
From the start of the match, both teams had laid their cards on the table.
Given how well Aoba Johsai and Itachiyama knew each other, there were very few trump cards left to hide. As a result, the offensive strategies hadn't shifted much since the beginning.
For Aoba Johsai, Akashi Asuka was spearheading the attack. For Itachiyama, it was all about Sakusa Kiyoomi.
Boom!
A powerful spike tore through Aoba Johsai's front line blockers and dropped right where Akashi was standing.
Akashi went for the receive, but as the ball hit his hands, the sheer spin sent a burning sting up his arms, and the ball shot off wildly into the air.
There was nothing he could do.
Right now, most of Akashi Asuka's defensive stats are in blocking. His reception attribute hadn't even hit 80.
Sure, 79 isn't exactly low, but 80 is usually considered the ceiling for an average high school player. For geniuses like Sakusa Kiyoomi, that ceiling is more like 85. Even if this spike wasn't at his maximum output, it was definitely in the 83+ range.
What really made Sakusa dangerous wasn't just raw power, it was his incredibly flexible wrists that gave his spikes disgusting amounts of spin. That was the real nightmare.
When it came to spiking through blocks, he might not be quite on the level of national aces like Ushijima Wakatoshi or Kiryu Hachibei.
But when it came to breaking through ground defenses, his spikes were far harder to handle than either of them.
11–8.
The rotation shifted again.
Aoba Johsai's turn to attack.
Once more, Akashi Asuka launched an attack from the back row. This time, Oikawa's toss perfectly met the apex of his jump, and Akashi gave the court a demonstration of what a back-row over-the-block cross shot looked like.
Itachiyama's middle blocker, Yada Tetsuji, looked completely defeated.
Are you serious? It was bad enough when you jumped over me from the front row. Now you're doing it from the back?
Do I even exist to you?
"Sorry, I almost forgot Itachiyama has blockers too!" Akashi said playfully.
But honestly, you couldn't blame Akashi for that. Itachiyama's libero was too good, so good that it often felt like they didn't need a block at all.
Though to be fair...
Akashi probably was about 18% at fault for forgetting about the blockers.
After all, in most of his matches, it really didn't matter whether the opponent had blockers or not.
Still, Itachiyama's libero definitely stood out.
Like just now, even though Akashi had spiked over the blockers from the back row, Komori still managed to get a touch on it. He didn't receive it, but he was getting dangerously close to the landing spot.
12–8.
Another switch.
Now Sakusa Kiyoomi was rotated into the front row for Itachiyama, while Aoba Johsai's front line now featured Matsukawa Issei, Oikawa Tooru, and Kyotani Kentarou.
Among them, Kyotani's blocking could be ignored when it came to facing Sakusa's spikes.
But Oikawa and Matsukawa, while not top-tier blockers nationally, were still formidable.
Even Sakusa wouldn't take them lightly. Which was why, for this attack, he played a trump card he had kept hidden.
Smash!
Sakusa launched into a spike.
His attack trajectory was notoriously hard to read, but Aoba Johsai had a blocker who played with his head, Oikawa Tooru.
Anticipating the attack, Oikawa deliberately left a gap in his block, baiting Sakusa to go for it, then reached up to close it at the last second.
But just as Sakusa's spike was about to hit Oikawa's hands,
It curved.
The ball suddenly veered to the side, bypassing Oikawa's perfectly timed block.
"…Was that… Akashi's curved spike?!"
Thud!
With a heavy impact, the ball crashed into Aoba Johsai's court. The players stood frozen, their faces stiff with shock, eyes locked on Sakusa Kiyoomi.
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria