The timeout quickly ended, and the Seijoh players returned to the court.
In the rest area, Irihata Nobuteru watched Akashi's back as he walked onto the court and suddenly spoke: "Say, Mizoguchi, do you think there's really a kind of person in this world who is a born 'Ace'?"
Team Manager Mizoguchi Sadayuki was stunned: "Why do you ask, Coach Irihata?"
Irihata Nobuteru shook his head: "Nothing, I just suddenly realized that sometimes, even with similar talent, people are ultimately different."
...
Even after the timeout, the Seijoh team's return to the court failed to immediately shift the momentum of the match.
While Irihata Nobuteru's counseling had reduced the impact of the consecutive serving losses by Akashi and Oikawa, the effect still lingered.
Furthermore, because too many points had been lost earlier, even though Seijoh fought desperately to catch up, they ultimately failed to reduce the deficit. In fact, facing Ushijima Wakatoshi's full-power offense, the gap between the two sides widened further.
Eventually, the second set ended with a large difference of 19:25.
The third set began immediately.
Right from the start, Seijoh remained under pressure from Shiratorizawa, and Akashi was still being defended with the opponent's man-to-man marking strategy.
It's quite interesting.
This 'man-to-man' strategy wasn't spontaneously invented by the Shiratorizawa players. It was a method used by Shiratorizawa's opponents in past National Tournaments, specifically to counter Ushijima Wakatoshi.
For Shiratorizawa, the fact that Ushijima Wakatoshi, "one of the Nation's Top Three Aces," is specifically targeted by opponents in the National Tournament has become routine.
As the score reached 11:14 in the third set, the players on both teams were drenched in sweat and severely fatigued.
Only two were exceptions.
One was Ushijima Wakatoshi. As a "Strong Opposite Hitter," Ushijima Wakatoshi actually has many responsibilities in a match, as the position is typically very comprehensive.
However, Ushijima Wakatoshi's role as a "Strong Opposite Hitter" at Shiratorizawa is highly specialized.
From the beginning, Coach Washijo Tanji's philosophy in building this team was to use Ushijima Wakatoshi as the "Absolute Offensive Core." Therefore, in typical matches, Ushijima Wakatoshi never participates in receiving the first pass, as it would disrupt his subsequent attack rhythm.
Not only that, but Ushijima Wakatoshi also largely avoids participating in defense, such as receiving and blocking.
Other players conserve Ushijima Wakatoshi's energy, and he uses all that saved energy for offensive scoring. This is one of the keys to Shiratorizawa's consistent victory.
Of course, in necessary situations, such as when an opponent specifically aims a spike at Ushijima Wakatoshi, he wouldn't mind reaching out to receive a ball or two. Generally, though, not many opponents do this, because Ushijima Wakatoshi's non-participation is due to Washijo Tanji's strategy, not a lack of receiving skill.
The second exception was Akashi.
If Ushijima Wakatoshi's energy was conserved by his Shiratorizawa teammates, Akashi's energy was similarly conserved by the Shiratorizawa players.
After all, facing Shiratorizawa's tight, dedicated defense, Akashi didn't receive many balls throughout the entire set, naturally leaving him little chance to expend energy.
BEEP!!!
Irihata Nobuteru called a timeout.
This timeout wasn't for tactical planning but simply to let the players catch their breath and recover some stamina.
"Phew~ I'm exhausted. I thought this was just a practice match? Why does it feel harder than an official one?" Hanamaki Takahiro took a drink and couldn't help but complain.
"No choice. Who told us the opponent is Shiratorizawa?"
Matsukawa Issei replied, then continued: "And it's not just us; I bet a few guys on the Shiratorizawa side are running low on energy, too."
"Speaking of which, Oikawa, after letting Akashi rest for so long, isn't it time to act?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Hanamaki Takahiro and a few other players were slightly puzzled and spoke up.
Oikawa's eyes flashed with surprise: "Oh? Matsukawa-chan, did you figure it out?"
"I only just realized something was off," Matsukawa admitted.
"Hey! Matsukawa, what are you guys talking about?"
Matsukawa Issei looked at Akashi, who was drinking water nearby, with his unenthusiastic eyes, then said: "Hanamaki, do you think we at Seijoh could use 'man-to-man marking' to stop Ushijima's offense?"
Hanamaki Takahiro answered without thinking: "How could that be possible, you idiot? If it were that easy to stop Ushijima, wouldn't we have won long ago?"
"Exactly. And it's the same for Shiratorizawa!"
"Hmm?"
Hanamaki Takahiro paused, realizing what was being hinted at.
"We've already played one match with Akashi, Hanamaki. Do you think you could stop him if you were defending him alone?"
"That..."
Hanamaki Takahiro carefully recalled the freshman welcoming match. In less than a second, he had his answer.
"So, Oikawa, you were deliberately not setting the ball to Akashi later on?"
"Hehe~~"
Oikawa smiled gently, his face radiating sunshine, but the others inexplicably sensed the faint illusion of a fox lurking behind him.
"My, my~~ Since the opponent took such great effort to set up a strategy specifically targeting Akashi alone—it's a first for us—I naturally had to make good use of it."
The team fell into a slight silence.
A moment later, Hanamaki Takahiro suddenly said: "You setters have dirty minds."
...
BEEP!!!
The timeout ended, and both teams returned to the court.
This point was Shiratorizawa's service right. The volleyball flew to Seijoh's back court, was received by Iwaizumi Hajime, and passed to Oikawa.
And this time, Oikawa gave no further tactical signals; he simply set the ball to Akashi.
Akashi leaped high to meet the volleyball.
The Shiratorizawa player marking him followed suit and jumped. However, the next moment, this player realized something was wrong.
The opponent is jumping so high.
Even though he jumped later, he reached his peak first, while the opponent was still ascending. It wasn't until Akashi's chin passed the top of the Shiratorizawa player's head that Akashi forcefully swung his arm to strike the ball.
BAM!
Accompanied by an astonishing hitting sound.
The volleyball carved a beautiful cross-court line across the Shiratorizawa court, skillfully avoiding the front-court block and the back-court Libero, and slammed directly onto the boundary line on the opposite side of the court.
BEEP!
Seijoh scored.
12:14.
The Shiratorizawa team was momentarily stunned.
Oikawa, however, extended a finger towards Ushijima Wakatoshi on the opposite side and slowly spoke: "Now then~ Let the real match begin!"
...