Knock~~~Knock~~Knock...
With the increasingly rapid drumbeat, Kageyama's serve shot again!
Boom!
But after the volleyball landed, the linesman on Inarizaki's side immediately raised the flag in his hand!
Out of bounds!!
Seeing this, both Kurosu and Omi Taro on the Inarizaki bench breathed a sigh of relief.
In the past few rallies, although Kageyama's serves had been disrupted, it was Karasuno that kept scoring!
The two of them had been debating whether to call a timeout to disrupt Karasuno's momentum.
But as soon as they remembered Akira's unusual back-row spike, they dismissed the idea.
Now, Kageyama's service error had ruined Karasuno's chance to string together consecutive points.
This was great news for them!
On Inarizaki's side, it was now Osamu Miya's turn to serve—Atsumu's twin brother.
Though he doesn't know Atsumu's "twin wielder" jump float serve, but his powerful jump serve is no less threatening.
Bang!
A powerful jump serve rocketed toward the back row of Karasuno!
He aimed directly at Hinata's position!!
Thud!
The sound of the ball hitting Hinata's arm was unusually dull, a clear sign of its force.
Hinata couldn't withstand the pressure, and the ball shot off to the side!
Beside him, Nishinoya dove forward, trying to save it—but he was too late!
Osamu scores off his serve!
"Osamu! Osamu! Nice one!"
...
Osamu remained expressionless even after his successful serve.
As he walked off the court to rotate out, Inarizaki's cheerleaders fell quiet once more.
Now in the back row, Nishinoya shifted his position toward the center.
Since Kageyama, also in the back row, wasn't part of the receive formation, and Hinata wasn't strong at receiving either…
The entire receiving burden now fell on Nishinoya!!
Bang!
As soon as the whistle blew, Osamu fired off another powerful serve!
"Hah!"
Nishinoya shouted, stepping instinctively to his left!
Bang!
Though the positioning wasn't ideal, he still managed to pick up the ball!!
"That sucks!"
Atsumu muttered, unimpressed.
"Better than you," Osamu shot back blandly, long used to his brother's trash talk.
Hinata, who hadn't joined the receive, saw Kageyama ready and immediately sprinted forward!
At that moment, everyone except Nishinoya moved into position!!
On the other side of the net, the expressions of the Inarizaki players grew tense.
Karasuno's formation was perfectly in sync, and they couldn't tell who would be attacking!
There wasn't much time to figure it out!
"Right wing!" Ōmimi shouted.
In this kind of ambiguous setup, his instinct was to block Akira!
If someone else attacked, they could still try to receive it from the back row.
But if it was Akira making the hit…
Without a coordinated block at the net, the odds of stopping that attack were almost zero!!
"Crap!"
Just as three of them leapt up to block, Kageyama's set didn't go to that side!
Instead, the ball was sent to Sawamura in the middle!
In Inarizaki's back row, Akagi and the others had already focused on Sawamura, anticipating a strong spike!
They'd seen the footage from previous Karasuno matches—
Their captain was great on defense, but a bit lacking in offensive power.
So… if he went for a spike, they were confident they could receive it!
But what they didn't expect was this—
Instead of a powerful spike, Sawamura lightly tipped the ball over the net!
A dink shot!
At that moment, the entire Inarizaki back row was focused on defending against a smash!
Which meant...
No one was left in front of the net to stop the tip!
Thud!
Even though they reacted, Akagi, lunging forward from the back row, couldn't reach it!
Karasuno pulls one point back!
"Damn it!!"
Akagi pounded the floor in frustration.
If they had noticed it just a second earlier, they might've had a chance to save it!
And with that point, the serve returned to Karasuno!!
"It's okay," Aran Ojiro said, trying to focus on the positive.
"Akira's rotated to the back row."
"Without his blocking, this is our chance to close the gap!"
"Right!"
Encouraged by his words, the Inarizaki players quickly took note of the change.
With Akira in the back row, Karasuno's front-line blocking wasn't quite as impenetrable.
And his offensive capabilities would also be somewhat restricted!
Even if Kageyama sent a back-row set to him, it wouldn't be nearly as effective as his front-row hits!!
This was their opportunity!
They had to take advantage of it and even the score!!
Meanwhile, in the stands with the Inarizaki cheerleaders—
"Hey!"
"Akira's serving!"
"He looks strong!"
"Once everyone notices, pound those drums harder!!"
"Don't let him serve normally!!"
"Yes!!"
On Karasuno's bench...
"Serve a good one!"
"Akira!!"
Ukai clasped his hands together and shouted toward the court!
As his voice echoed, the rest of Karasuno turned their eyes to Akira.
"Don't let them shake you!"
"You've got this!"
"Stay focused!"
"Give 'em a good one, Akira!!"
...
With his teammates cheering him on, Akira slowly walked to the edge of the court and picked up the volleyball rolling on the ground.
He turned around, and with a calm smile, said—
"That's exactly what I wanted."