The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 428: The End of the First Set & Intermission

Just like what Arisawa Junya predicted, even though Yuki and Riku found their trick to prevent their combination attack, those two were still unable to turn the game in their favor. This was something that they or any other player would learn in the hardest way. Volleyball was a six-player game, and there was no way one or two players could always dominate it for a long time. There would be a time when one dominating player faced a wall, and when that happened, if the others couldn't step up for him, everything would be over.

This was the case for Tsunemori High right now.

Even if Yuki and Riku could just spam their combination attack all the time, it was impossible for Kikugawa High to not react and prevent them from doing that again. This time, instead of giving a space for the other Tsunemori players to attack so that Riku wouldn't go for Yuki, all the Kikugawa High players started targeting Yuki. They kept giving the glasses boy a short attack in his area, which forced Yuki to always move forward and close the space for him to run.

Right now, he was like a bird inside a cage, unable to fly freely due to the restraint the opponent placed on him. Unfortunately, the other Tsunemori players failed to step up when he and Riku needed them the most.

Asahi, Kaede, and Hirano failed to do even the simplest job such as attracting the opponent's blockers to their side since the threat they possessed was neutralized already. For them, although a bit unwilling, Yuki didn't blame them since offense was not their best strength. Ogawa himself was able to support him and Riku once or twice, but since he was still pretty new with his role as another emergency setter, he played a bit awkwardly, exposing his intention a lot of times. However, what really tested Yuki's patience was Koji.

The one who was supposed to be the team's ace didn't have a good time today. It was as if the opponent really knew all of his tricks and offensive methods, preventing him from breaking out and helping the two freshmen sharing the burden of the team's offense. To make it worse, Koji was the type of player who depended on momentum, so when he gained it, he could be unstoppable, but when he was in a slump, it would be so hard for the ace to get up and find his best form.

So, overall, Tsunemori's offense was on Yuki and Riku's shoulders, but those two were not enough to break through the opponent's defense all the time. As a result, after the one-sided battle for five minutes or so, Kikugawa High finally sealed the set for their win, allowing them to gain one step closer to the semifinal.

"Cuk! This is the worst performance I have ever seen from you, Koji! Asahi! What is going on here?!"

"Come on! Is this Tsunemori High that I have been supporting this year? How in the hell did you all let the two freshmen carry you all over the game? Don't you have no shame at all?!"

"This is embarrassing! This is fucking embarrassing!"

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The harsh critique from the supporters only added more frustration to the team as they couldn't even relax their bodies in this intermission. Hell, Koji even tried to shrink his presence as low as possible, trying to be invisible during this time. His performance was definitely the worst in the first set since he failed to do his task, scoring the ball.

Akira pondered for a moment, not even caring for the state of his players before turning his attention to Yuki and Riku. "You two, tell me what you think about the first set."

Not just the two freshmen, but all the ears on the bench perked up, knowing that this was the start of the discussion. However, most of them felt uncomfortable since the coach just ignored their depressed state and went straight to those two as if he didn't care about them at all.

Yuki exchanged a glance with his friend for a second before she said, "Well, it is like his…" After that, he started explaining his hypothesis of how the opponent tried to prevent their combination attack by letting the other players open as they believed that if not him or Riku, they would be able to stop Tsunemori's attack. He also mentioned the proof when he and Riku tried to pull the combination attack, and the opponent was caught off guard because of it.

The other Tsunemori players didn't know how to react. They wanted to cry and feel insulted by Kikugawa's strategy, but the first set proved to everyone that the opponent's approach was not wrong. Moreover, when they heard the opponent's follow-up strategy to cage him, they felt something hit their gut, knowing full well that if the place was replaced and they had to be the one attacking, they wouldn't be able to do things better than the glasses boy in front of them.

In the end, Akira just heaved a deep sigh, saying, "It seems I am underestimating Arisawa-kun's preparation and determination to win the game."

"What do you mean, Sensei?" Yuki couldn't help but ask.

"Well, as you know by now, he was my student and assistant a few years ago, and you can say that he learned everything he knows from me, including how to gather intelligence about the next opponent and how to take advantage of it. However, he takes it to the next level and surprises us by exposing a weakness that we didn't even know before this. I should've thought that he could do this, but by not thinking about it, I underestimated his capability, and we paid the prize in the first set. I am sorry."

Some of the players who played terribly in the first set felt uncomfortable when they listened their coach apologizing to them. Meanwhile, Riku grew impatient, couldn't care less about this. "Jiisan, you can drown in your pity party later if we are defeated in the end of the game. But for now, we still have a chance to fight! Just tell us what to do and how to take revenge on them!"

Akira felt his mouth twitch a little, having to hold back the urge to punch his nephew straight to his head. However, he knew that Riku was right, and coincidentally enough, he had already had an idea of what the team should do next. "Well, if there is nothing going wrong, in the next set, we will have to rely on you more, Riku. So, get ready."

Riku himself was taken aback when his name was mentioned by the coach. Even though he knew the coach would be able to think something, he didn't expect that it would be him who was the center of the strategy. In the end, he just had his mouth gaped wide while pointing at himself in disbelief.

"What do you mean by relying on me more?!"