"I can't believe it!"
"It was actually picked up by Kiryū!!"
Bokuto had an incredulous expression.
"I thought they were going to lose at least ten points!"
"And it's not just luck, either!"
Akaashi chimed in from the side:
"Even if someone else happened to receive that ball, it doesn't mean they could've scored off it."
"Kiryū's strength is what made it possible to capitalize on that lucky break and stop Mujinazaka's slide."
"Exactly!"
Everyone nodded in agreement at Akaashi's words.
If Kiryū wasn't strong enough, that point just now wouldn't have been so easy to score.
Even if he had received the ball, he would've had to face Akira's serve again right after!
. . . . . . . .
Whistle!
Now, it was Mujinazaka's serve again.
Bang!
Ezota launched a powerful jump serve straight toward the back row of Karasuno!
Right where Akira was positioned!!
Thwack!
But Akira didn't panic. He calmly took a step back and cleanly received the ball!
Kageyama, seeing the perfect first touch, quickly moved to the front of the net and set it up.
Seeing this, Mujinazaka's three front-row blockers also rushed into position at the net!!
But Tanaka, catching sight of the pass, used a different kind of spike!!
It was the inside corner shot he had learned from Bokuto during the training camp!!
Nobody expected him to use that shot now!
But Tanaka's control of that kind of spike clearly wasn't very polished.
Smack!
The ball hit the arm of one of the blockers—
Then spun and veered off to the sideline!!
Whistle!
Touched out of bounds!
Karasuno scores!!
"Phew!"
Tanaka landed after the spike and took a deep breath.
"That was risky!"
"Haha, doesn't matter. As long as it scores!"
Azumane patted him on the shoulder.
. . . . . . . .
"Not bad!"
"They're rotating again!"
In the audience, the players from Inarizaki were watching intently.
"If Mujinazaka only focuses on Akira…"
"That's a big mistake!"
"The quick attack from Kageyama and that short guy, Number 10—if they let that combo go unchecked, they're gonna take serious damage!"
"As long as Karasuno rotates two more times, Akira will be back in the front row!"
"Yeah."
Shinsuke Kita also spoke quietly:
"There's not much time left for Mujinazaka."
Hearing that, everyone seemed to remember something and turned to the big screen outside the court.
Karasuno 13 : 4 Mujinazaka!!
Under Akira's near-unreturnable serve earlier, Mujinazaka had lost too many points.
Karasuno had already scored over half the points needed to win the first set, while Mujinazaka only had four!!
Now...
It was their turn to get nervous.
. . . . . . . .
Just like the spectators had thought—
Faced with such a large point gap, a sense of urgency had begun creeping into the hearts of the Mujinazaka players.
Although no one said anything aloud, every serve, every attack they made—
Was losing its previous composure.
Still, they stuck firmly to their original tactical plan!
Most of their serves and spikes were aimed at Akira in the back row.
Although Akira managed to stop most of those attacks, it was clearly draining his stamina!
However...
That pressure came at a price—Karasuno's score kept climbing steadily!!
And after the round where Tanaka scored, Kiryū had rotated to the back row for Mujinazaka!
Though his serve didn't have the sharpness of Akira's, it was still a powerful jump serve!
It helped Mujinazaka recover three points—but was ultimately received cleanly by Akira in the back row!!
You had to admit—when Akira was in the back row, the fast attacks between Kageyama and Hinata were absolutely lethal!!
The first time Mujinazaka saw that unpredictable quick attack, they had no time to react!!
Even with Nozomu Mami and Keisuke Unnan's height advantage, they were completely being led around by Hinata's pace!!
Even if they eventually managed to block that quick attack, they would need time to adjust!
And under the current breakneck pace of the match, there was no time to adapt!!
After several points traded back and forth, Hinata rotated to the back row again—
And Akira returned to the front row for Karasuno!!
Then Mujinazaka's nightmare began again!!
Their attempts to stop Akira's attacks kept failing!!
It wasn't until late in the set that the back-row players finally began to adjust to Akira's spikes.
With the help of the front-row blockers, they were starting to touch the ball on his smashes!
But by then...
Karasuno had reached 23 points!!
And Mujinazaka had only 17!!
In other words...
Karasuno was only one point away from set point!!
"Let's go!"
Seeing some of his teammates looking unsettled, Usuri took a deep breath.
"Don't forget our original goal!"
"And didn't we talk about this scenario before the match?"
"If we lose the first set, it's fine!"
"We'll take it back eventually!"
"We understand."
The others nodded in agreement, encouraged by his words.
And as they steadied themselves, on the other side of the net—
Karasuno's serve began once again.