Chapter 38: Court Control, Morale
"Nice ball!!!!"
Yukigaoka successfully reached match point, with the score at 24:19.
In contrast, Shiratorizawa's carefully orchestrated, must-win, and crucial attack was not only completely shut down by their opponents.
The finger wagging and "no-fly zone" trash talk after the successful block also caused the two players who organized this attack to have mental breakdowns.
And once their mentality became unstable, balls that would normally be easy pickups could go wrong.
"Sorry!! My fault!!! Damn it!!!"
The final ball of the first set ended with Goshiki's serve error, hitting the net for a lost point.
The somewhat dejected Goshiki was, as expected, thoroughly beaten up by his teammates.
After being properly lectured, Goshiki repeatedly promised that he would definitely watch game footage carefully beforehand next round, and wouldn't make this kind of mistake of losing the first set due to underestimating opponents again.
This immediately triggered another round of mockery.
"You're already thinking about next round's opponents right after losing the first set?"
"That's so you, Goshiki."
"Normal people wouldn't do something like that."
This made Goshiki's mentality unbalanced once again, and like a scolded Pomeranian, he barked furiously at his teammates.
So both sides peacefully switched courts and resumed battle amidst Goshiki's shouting.
This time, with Ichise Guren actively participating in blocking, Yukigaoka's defensive power went up several levels. For Shiratorizawa, Ichise Guren only starting to block seriously in the final moments of the previous set was obviously either sandbagging or not taking them seriously.
For Ichise Guren, the match's greatest purpose was to train his teammates, giving them more opportunities to grow and learn.
Starting to seriously participate in blocking was being forced by Shiratorizawa's powerful attackers. If Shiratorizawa's attacking lineup was missing either Goshiki or Shirabu, he would happily give more opportunities to his teammates rather than take the field himself.
In a sense, this was also Ichise Guren's respect for Shiratorizawa.
Although Shiratorizawa had Goshiki, a wing spiker who could liven up the atmosphere well and had decent strength and mental attributes, and their overall average level was quite excellent.
But for Yukigaoka, Shiratorizawa was more like a weakened offensive, strengthened organizational version of Kitagawa Daiichi, with Goshiki alone making up for the weakened offense.
However, even a strong middle school level team was still not quite enough for the current Yukigaoka.
Because they had the highest contact point that would be shocking even in the current national high school volleyball world.
BANG!!
"This guy is so strong! And he gives me a feeling of having plenty in reserve."
"You're not wrong. Every time Shiratorizawa's duo is just about to build momentum, he calls for the setter's pass and then completely ignores the defense to deliver those spikes that make the opponents completely give up."
"Playing middle school matches at this height is basically bullying, right?"
"Did he get held back? Jumping this high, he'd be good enough for college leagues."
Ichise Guren, landing from mid-air, ignored the unwilling looks from the opposing players. After high-fiving his teammates, he went straight back to his position and threw himself into the next round of offense and defense.
On Shiratorizawa's bench, their coach was drinking from his thermos again. While using the thermos to block his face, his eyes were fixed on Ichise Guren.
'This kid is starting to control the court.'
'Does he want to use us to level up his teammates?'
'Really annoying.'
'Only when you're several levels above your opponents can you achieve this kind of court control.'
'This usually only happens at elementary level, when everyone hasn't grown up yet and their minds aren't set.'
'The kind of court control behavior that sometimes appears when guys who've been playing volleyball since childhood want to extend the match or enjoy the fun.'
'And it's happening to our Shiratorizawa!'
'This is absolutely humiliating!'
The Shiratorizawa coach gripped his thermos so hard it creaked, scaring the assistant coach beside him.
'But!'
After a few seconds, the thermos was safely placed back on the bench.
'Such a genius, such a super attack if he doesn't come to our Shiratorizawa for high school, where else could he go!'
'Unless he doesn't study in Miyagi Prefecture, as long as he goes to high school, our Shiratorizawa will definitely be his best choice!'
The Shiratorizawa middle school coach was already imagining Ushijima Wakatoshi and Ichise Guren joining forces, which would definitely break their previous best record of national quarterfinals.
There was even a high probability they could challenge for the championship.
Thinking of this, the coach's hands started itching, eagerly waiting for his team to lose so he could immediately call head coach Washijo and report discovering a genius wing spiker who could rival Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Then after Washijo recruited Ichise Guren, he could use his merit of discovering the next Ushiwaka to move up to the high school volleyball team as an assistant coach, then work with the players toward challenging for the national championship.
Just thinking about it was exciting.
The expressionless Shiratorizawa assistant coach looked at the head coach in front of him, who was about to see his team eliminated but was somehow showing hints of excitement.
His feelings were indescribably complex. As an assistant coach, he could more or less guess the head coach's thoughts. But precisely because of this, he felt this wasn't right.
It wasn't fair to his own students.
There was still a chance to win, they could still give it one more try, but while the players were fighting desperately, the head coach was thinking about how to recruit the enemy into the high school division.
Even though this seemed like the correct strategic thinking for the high school division, it was unfair to his own players.
But neither Shiratorizawa's head coach nor Ichise Guren across the court.
No one cared, or rather, would consider his thoughts at this moment.
Another scoring spike by Ichise Guren.
Shiratorizawa's players were starting to lose heart, and even the most resilient Goshiki couldn't help but waver at this moment.
Were all his current efforts really useful?
Looking at that figure across the net who jumped so high his elbows nearly passed Goshiki's fingertips, now celebrating with his teammates, Goshiki doubted for the first time whether he truly had volleyball talent.
"You guys..."
The assistant coach took a deep breath.
"What are you doing!!!!"
"Bastards!!!!"
The enormous volume attracted the attention of everyone in the venue.
The Shiratorizawa head coach was also startled. Just as he was about to scold the assistant coach, he was shocked by the fierce expression on the assistant coach's face.
His entire presence was completely suppressed by the assistant coach.
He couldn't even speak.
The red-faced assistant coach completely ignored the head coach's thoughts beside him, instead wholeheartedly shouting to the guys on court.
"You want to give up at this level?"
"Think about your usual training! Damn it!"
"You train so hard, giving up time to play games at home, date, eat good food, and rest."
"In that hot summer, when you could be at home enjoying air conditioning and eating ice cream, but you still drag your sweat-drenched bodies to the gym for desperate, hard training, what's the reason for that?"
"Ah!!!!"
The assistant coach, now being watched by the referee, had no awareness of being watched.
He was still shouting loudly.
"If this makes you not want to play volleyball anymore!!!"
"Then go home and take a bath and sleep early!!"
"Never touch anything related to winning or losing for the rest of your life!!"
"Do you understand?!!"
The assistant coach, shouting at the top of his lungs, was now somewhat breathless and felt his throat getting hoarse.
Breathing heavily but still indignant, the assistant coach grabbed the head coach's thermos from the bench.
Opening the cap, he drank it all in one gulp.
Only after he caught his breath did he realize.
The entire gymnasium, whether spectators, staff, players and coaches from both sides, or referee were all looking at him with astonishment.
Only then did he suddenly become nervous, bowing in all directions while apologizing.
"Sumimasen! Sumimasen!"
After that, he quietly sat down on the bench with his head lowered, remaining silent.
Hinata Shoyo's eyes sparkled.
"What's this? Their head coach doesn't have much presence, but the assistant coach is quite fierce."
"Agreed" x2, from Hoshino Masaru and Hyakuzawa Yudai.
"His speech was pretty cool." This was Ichise Guren's assessment.
"At times like this, if our side's coach had this kind of speech, it would definitely maximize our team's morale and increase the probability of miracles happening."
Ichise Guren looked at his own side's empty coaching area.
He thought: 'Next time I should definitely bring a coach. Never calling timeouts always feels like a waste...'
***
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