I assume they are getting used to the speed of my serves. Fiona reasoned. In that case, it is time to mix things up a little.
WHAM. Fiona struck the ball but she didn't exert her usual strength. Instead, she focused on technique. If the enemy team were expecting yet another straightforward serve, then they will be in for a surprise.
At first, the ball traveled toward the edge of the court as usual. It was slower than previous serves, but it was still decently fast. At a glance, none of the girls could tell Fiona slowed down her attack on purpose.
Only once the ball got closer, its erratic movements became more pronounced. It seemed to float and dance in the air, defying the laws of physics.
"G-Got it!" One of the girls stepped forth, confident she would be able to receive this slower serve. However...
"Eh!? Wha-!?" The girl jerked as the wild ball approached her. A moment ago, she was 100% certain she got into the best possible position for receiving this serve. But, just then, the ball started drifting away all of a sudden!
It was as if the ball had a will of its own. It saw the receiver and chose to avoid it at all costs.
"W-Wait...!" The girl leapt after the fleeing ball and stretched her arms as far as humanly possible. She successfully made contact but this was not something one would call a recieve. Instead of going up, the ball only slipped off her arms.
In the end, the ball hit the floor while leaving the girl bewildered.
"Eh? But I... Huh?" The girl examined her own hands in confusion. It must have felt unbelievable for her considering how straightforward the serve seemed at first.
"Excuse me!?" Cornelia was the first to exclaim, as usual. "Do you mind explaining how in the world you managed to mess up such a simple receive!? There is surely a limit to how much of a pleb a person can be, and you have just passed that threshold!"
"Now, now." Daniella stepped in at the first opportunity and turned to Fiona. "That was a floater, wasn't it? It was a little hard to tell because of the speed."
"Yes, it was a floater," Fiona confirmed.
"Whew. I haven't seen you do one of these in a while, but it was incredibly sharp!"
"I am glad you think so," Fiona said. "I have been polishing my floaters for quite some time now, so this is a good opportunity to test them out in a real match."
"Wow. You're already such a strong player, but you're still getting ever better, huh."
"Of course." Fiona nodded. "Perpetual self-improvement is the essence of sports."
"Yeah, I guess that's right." Daniella could only smile wryly at that grandiose statement.
Technically, it was correct. For the players, sports were all about honing their skills to become a better and stronger version of themselves.
However, most players improved slowly over a prolonged period of time. A newbie usually grew up quickly at first, but at some point, they were bound to hit "the wall"; the point at which personal growth became slow, and practice stopped feeling rewarding.
Everybody was bound to run into this wall at one point or another, except for the Landberht Princess, apparently. The girl has been improving nonstop ever since she joined the club.
At this point, she was already the best player in the club all around. And yet, she continued evolving even further.
Does her talent have no limits? Daniella wondered. Is this what people call a "genius"?
As a senior, Daniella had mixed feelings about this. The 2.5 years she spent training in the club felt so meager compared to the progress Fiona made in half that time.
Even though it was wrong to think of it that way, prodigies like Fiona sure made it feel as if some people were "chosen" to play sports. To borrow Cornelia's nonsensical terms: few were the chosen "nobles" destined the rule the court, whereas the rest were "commoners" who merely tagged along.
That was probably why Cornelia was so obsessed with competing against Fiona. She recognized the Landberht Princess as an entity from a higher plane of existence. So, by beating this supreme being, Cornelia must've believed she'll be able to ascend to a higher plane as well.
Where do I stand on that scale, I wonder? Daniella smiled wryly. Am I also just a regular "commoner"? Or, am I at least a little above the average?
Daniella was the captain of the team, so at least she had that going for her. However, she knew all too well she was far from being the "best" player on the team. She was just a sociable busybody, so the coach appointed her to keep the team in check. In other words, she didn't get her position thanks to her skill in volleyball per se.
Her sets were pretty good if she could say so herself, but that's about her only skill that really stood out. Other than that, all she had to her name was the experience she has accumulated in the club as a senior.
Frankly, it was a depressing topic. Instead of drowning in this mud of self-deprecation, Daniella had to keep moving forward.
"Let's cut her off in the next one!" Daniella shouted, hoping to psych both the team and herself.
"Yeah!" The team responded in a union. Nobody had lost heart yet despite the fact the enemy scored 4 points in a row. Everybody was ready to give their all in the next round again!
Yes, that's the spirit. Daniella nodded. We might be "commoners" or whatever compared to a prodigy like Fiona, but that doesn't mean we're just gonna quit! We'll keep challenging her over and over until we break that demonic serve!
Following Daniella's war cry, everybody's expressions changed. They were now even more focused than before on breaking Fiona's serve. There was an intimidating aura radiating from them.
That was a splendid boost of morale. Fiona praised. However, morale alone is not enough. Show me that you also have the necessary skill to pull through this.
WHAM! The ball shot toward the enemy court. This time, Fiona aimed at the edges of the court again. Specifically, she aimed toward the right sideline.
The opponent over there was a freshman who did not have a stellar record when it came to receiving, therefore this ball should be difficult for her to stop. And indeed, the girl seemed paralyzed as the girl approached her.
"Isn't this an out...?" The girl mumbled. She wanted to get into a position to receive, but wouldn't it be great if this ball just went out of bounds? Will save her lots of trouble and will finally put an end to Fiona's oppressive serves.
But, this was exactly the reaction the Landberht Princess was hoping for. She is hesitating, as expected. She nodded. There is a big difference between being warned about potential danger and actually experiencing it first-hand.
Even though Daniella warned everybody about how accurate Fiona's serves were, it was difficult for such a message to sink in after only one example. Especially, not after Fiona showed them completely different types of serves right after that.
By now, they had no idea what to expect next and really wanted Fiona's turn to be over. That combination of anxiety and impatience will certainly make them commit errors.
Perhaps it was a bit Spartan to test a freshman like this. However, this freshman was part of the scrimmage because she showed promise and the team had great expectations of her. As such, there was no reason to pull any punches.
"A-Ah!" The girl ultimately stepped forward to challenge the ball. However, she was far too late and her form was a mess. The ball rammed into her sloppy stance and bounced far outside the court.
Windy, the libero, gave chase and slid forth in an attempt to rescue the escaping ball. However, she was unable to do so.
And so, the score was now 5-2. Slowly but surely, despair was creeping up on the girls over there.
But, they ought to be able to overcome that much. Fiona asserted. The competition will be far more ruthless than this at the nationals.
Difficult situations like this tested the team's leadership. Fortunately, this club had a dependable captain with a burning fighting spirit.
"Alright, focus on the next one!" Daniella said. "Remember to go after her serves without any hesitation. Don't even think about whether it'll be in or out."
"Got it!"
Daniella did not waste any additional time lecturing the freshman for the mistake, as there was nothing new to say there. This was the right decision, as the team's morale was already shaken enough. As such, it was counterproductive to beat them down any further with criticism right now.
Alas, as usual, one teammate did not get the memo...
"Can't you commoners receive at all!?" Cornelia raged. "You are feeding free points to the Landberht household! Is this supposed to be your idea of paying taxes!?"
As usual, Daniella had to step in to calm down the furious noble. Honestly, it was a sorry sight.
Cornelia was certainly skilled on the mechanical level. However, her teamplay and attitude left much to be desired. Everything she achieved for the team with her serves was overshadowed by how much she hurt the team's morale with her constant complaints.
In particular, this time, the noble was more furious than ever. Even after Daniella deflected the girl's rants, Cornelia was still not done.
"Fiona Landberht! Enough with the petty tricks!" Cornelia called out. "These commoners are not a competition for you. Aim all your serves at me instead! I shall handle them!"
"Is that so?" Fiona asked. "Do you suggest you can cleanly receive any of my serves without any trouble?"
"Most definitely! After all, it takes a noble to contest a noble!"
"I shall keep your suggestion in mind," Fiona gave a non-answer.
Cornelia would have continued nagging about this if Fiona outright refused, so it was best to give her a dodgy answer.
Once the dust had settled, Fiona proceeded to the next serve. WHAM. This time, it was a floater toward the front row.
However, the floater was a peculiar serve that swayed randomly from side to side. As such, despite Fiona's numerous practice sessions, she did not have full control over this wild beast.
And so, the ball decided of its own volition to fly toward the center this time. That gave the enemy team a lot of time to respond.
Unsurprisingly, the first to leap at the ball was none other than Cornelia. "Finally, you've decided to challenge me! Then, I shall respond in kind!"
She dashed toward the swaying ball as if it were directed at her, even though she was not actually the closest player to it. There was another girl positioned closer and should have been the one to challenge this ball.
However, Cornelia had enough. She was tired of seeing all these plebians mess up their receives over and over again. Therefore, this time, she will take matters into her own noble hands!
"A-Ah!" The other girl jumped away, startled by Cornelia's fierce dash. Her response was slow, but at least she knew her place and cleared the path for Cornelia.
BAM. The ball struck against Cornelia's hands. She made it just in time to execute the receive!
However, it was a bit sloppy. Not so much because of Cornelia's own skill, but because the ball had irregular movement. Any noble would be stumped by such unpredictable behavior.
Cornelia did successfully stop the ball from falling to the floor, but the unruly pleb bounced away in an uncooperative manner. Instead of going high into the air, the ball slipped away and flew toward the edge of the court.
In the end, this was going to be Fiona's victory yet again. Or, so everybody thought.
Not under my watch! Daniella blitzed in. This is the first real opportunity we've gotten in this game, so there's no way I'm letting it slip away!
Despite how lost that ball seemed, Daniella refused to give up. If there was a chance to save the ball, then she had to chase it, no matter what!
At a glance, it looked like a fool's errand. However, the Landberht Princess calculated that the ball was salvage, at the very least.
She can probably make it in time. Fiona deduced. But, no matter how excellent her setting skills are, she cannot possibly set the ball from that position. So, this will be a free ball.
But, despite this estimation, Fiona refused to underestimate her foes. After all, the players on the other side of the court were part of her own club, and half of them were first-string players to boot. As such, she made sure to carefully analyze everybody's movements and adjust her position accordingly.
Volleyball was a fast-moving game, therefore Fiona had to make sure she was ready for anything in advance. If something surprising were to happen here, it would be too late.
And so, Fiona moved deeper into the court, preparing to intercept any incoming shots as necessary. If there was the faintest chance of a counterattack happening, Fiona wanted to be ready to stop it.
However, as expected, Daniella struggled to even get to the ball in time. As she got closer to it, she had already realized how difficult it would be to convert this into an attack.
A set is probably impossible. Daniella thought. But, as long as I can get the ball up, somebody should be able to hit it over the net. So, even if it's just going to be a free ball...!
"Set it for me!" Cornelia shouted as she dashed toward the net. "I shall score this!"
Heh, seriously. This girl. Daniella found herself smiling. Talk about asking for the impossible.
How was Daniella supposed to set a shanked ball like this? Seriously, expecting the impossible was so Cornelia.
But, why not? Daniella thought. It won't be a great set, but I can at least set something, right? Seriously, why did I give up on attacking in the first place?
Why did she assume this had to be a free ball for the enemy? There was a chance to mount an actual attack here!
Somewhere deep down, maybe I've already accepted defeat against Fiona for this round. Daniella smiled wryly. Her serves just keep racking up points, so it's mentally draining.
Even Daniella, who was supposed to be the supporting pillar of the team, was finding herself a little dejected. But, this was where she'll mount a comeback!
Yeah, Fiona, you're a prodigy alright. Daniella thought as she reached toward the ball. But, everybody here practices hard too, you know? Maybe we "commoners" can't dominate the game as well as you do, but we sure can retaliate! I'm not going to let you keep controlling the game all day!
Instead of securing the ball with the back of her hands, Daniella blitzed past the ball and executed an improvised setting motion!
It was an extremely awkward position. Her form was a total mess. But, she wasn't entirely unfamiliar with situations like this. A setter had to be able to get the ball up for the spiker even when the circumstances weren't ideal.
O-Okay! Daniella gulped as she finally got the ball up. It headed toward the net, albeit very awkwardly. Honestly, it was a pretty terrible set all in all, but it was passable given the dire circumstances.
All in all, the ball went both high enough and close enough to the net to allow a spike to happen. Now, it was just a question of what Cornelia will make out of this clumsy opportunity.
Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to convert this into an actual counterattack...! Daniella prayed that the loud troublemaker would be able to pull this off somehow despite the low odds of success...!
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