Passing through the large crowds all around the stadium, the girls finally made their way to their parents and chaperones in Inarizaki's cheer section. They all took their saved seats shifting their attention below to the different court games taking place. The current match where Inarizaki will play was still going on two points from the match point.
From what remained of the current games the girls felt, for the most part in round one it was easy to determine the winners as the skill differences between a majority of the matchups were drastic. However, not to say there aren't any matchups where the teams are extremely close in skill level. It's just coming from a powerhouse school where exceptional players are scouted and put on one team together sort of skews their perspective and expectations of high-level and impressive players.
The current game quickly came to an end clearing the way for Inarizaki and their opponents to warm up. During warm ups, the cheer sections of both teams erupted to life to show support. At the preliminaries, the girls already thought their school's band was loud, but that noise paled in comparison to the sheer volume, and number of people in attendance for nationals. And knowing this was only the first round had them wondering how much louder the crowd could get for future matches such as the semifinals and finals.
The audience quieted down as warmups finished and the starting players got into position for the first of five possible sets. Unlike the preliminaries, matches at the nationals were played best out of five sets.
Facing off against a team from the Saitama prefecture, on the court representing Inarizaki were Kimura Yusei (C/S), Watanabe Rui (VC/WS), Ojiro Aran (WS), Miya Osamu (WS), Nakamura Takumi (MB), Omimi Ren (MB), and Akagi Michinari (L). Meanwhile on the bench for the time being was Yamazaki Yuto (MB), Ginjima Hitoshi (WS), Miya Atsumu (S), and Suna Rintarou (MB).
Being familiar with the boys' team after spending hours helping them during morning practice, Atsuko noticed something or someone missing among the lineups. Turning to Shiori, Atsuko voiced her thoughts.
Atsuko: Uhm Shiori–san I may have missed this during the qualifiers, but why is Kita–san sitting on the bench without a uniform? He seems to be filling in more as a manager than a player. I know he's not injured because he participates in practice, so how come?
Momentarily removing her gaze from the court below, Shiori looked back at Atsuko. Shiori exhaled deeply, unsure whether it was her place or not to provide an explanation. Glancing back at the court lost in thought, not really taking the scenery in, Shiori gave a simple but loaded response.
Shiori: Sometimes the best way to help your team to victory is to stay on the sidelines.
Not quite understanding the context and deeper meaning behind her words, Atsuko stayed silent and refocused her attention to the match about to start.
On the court, Inarizaki was given first service. Standing behind the endline, after hearing the referee blow their whistle, Kimura bounced the ball three times before tossing it up in front of him. Jumping up, he swung his right arm, hitting the ball hard into the middle of the opposite court.
Players on the other team moved around, avoiding the ball allowing space for the player who called for the ball to see and receive it. The player who communicated for the ball received it in the direction of their setter. The setter quickly moved underneath the ball aligning themselves before setting the ball to one of their eager wing spikers.
Inarizaki's front row closely watched their opponents' movements before performing a two-man-block. The blocked ball bounced off their fingers and back into their opponents' court but wasn't completely shut out.
One of the back row players moved forward, digging for the ball keeping it in play. Once again, the setter aligned themselves under the ball, setting up to the same player who was reentering their spike formation. Following through their motions, the spiker jumped, hitting the ball in a second attempt at getting through Inarizaki's blockers.
However, Inarizaki remained on their toes, forming another two-man-block. This time the ball ricocheted off their fingers outside of the sideline making the score, 1 – 0, in favor of Inarizaki. The crowd roared with emotion from one of many points to come.
Collecting the ball from outside, it was handed back to Kimura for a second service. Repeating his serve routine, Kimura hit the ball softer this time over the net in a surprise attempt. The difference in power from the previous serve caused the opposing setter to touch the ball first. With their setter unable to form a practiced play, the other positions opted to safely bump it over the net waiting for the next opportunity.
Seeing as their opponents skipped their chance to attack, Inarizaki took it upon themselves to take advantage of the passed-up opportunity. From the back row Akagi skillfully bumped the ball to Kimura, who tossed the ball to Aran instead of ace wing spiker Watanabe, whom the defense thought the ball was heading to.
Resulting in Aran powerfully slamming the ball passed zero defenders thanks to Watanabe's decoy. One of the back row defenders tried to receive the ball, but the power transferred from Aran's arm to the ball caused it to fly out of bounds off their forearms.
The two teams continued rallying back and forth, neither wanting to give up any points. Along the way, despite losing points from personal mistakes by the end of the first set, Inarizaki had settled into a calm rhythm, steadily gaining points. They were able to set the pace of the entire game to their advantage dragging the other team along as they pleased. Inarizaki were the ones in charge, getting into the other team's head.
Sometime during the second set, various Inarizaki players were substituted out to bring on the remaining benched players to close out round one. Anyone watching their game, whether you were familiar with Inarizaki or not, could tell the team had yet to go all out skill and stamina wise. Some players you could say, even appeared to be slacking due to their comfortable lead.
In the end, Inarizaki had taken their round one match in straight sets. They thanked their opponents for the good game and their cheer section for the support. Then quickly grabbed all their belongings, clearing the court for the next round one match between Itachiyama and a team from the Ishikawa prefecture.
Done with their first day of nationals, the boys team joined their family and friends in the audience to watch some of the games. At the moment sitting down, relaxed from their first win of the tournament, all of their gazes were on the court they had just played on. The boys weren't going to waste an opportunity to observe and analyze the playing of their highlighter yellow rivals.
YOU ARE READING
The Miya Triplets | Komori Motoya (On Pause)
Fanfiction------------------------- Unknown to a vast majority of the volleyball world the Miya Twins are really the Miya Triplets. Their younger sister Miya Atsuko has grown up loving and playing volleyball with them but holds a deeper passion for basketball...
