The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

If all the Tsunemori players could hear what Miura, Shimo High's head coach, currently thought, they all would be shocked and think that the old man was some sort of a prophet. After all, this was exactly what Miura was thinking. He didn't mind losing the first set in such a humiliating manner. No, what he cared about the most was the intelligence brought by his players about the opponent.

"Okay, first things first, we change our rotation." He started speaking. "Ezaki-kun, you will start in the fifth position, right behind Genta-kun there."

Even though he had just said his first instruction, everyone was dumbfounded already. After all, Ezaki was the second-best server in the team after Hideo, so to put him in the fifth position, where he had to wait until the fifth rotation to go to the service line, would be absurd. It would be better to arrange the second-best server right next to the best one to create a strong momentum as early as possible, and that was what all the teams in this tournament would usually do.

"Oh, I know, it is a bit unusual, but trust me, I have my reason here." The coach said, raising his hand to stop the commotion. "I have already noticed that whenever Yuya-kun and Takumi-kun are on the same side, Tsubasa-kun always passes the ball to the opposite area, and that is because the two hitters are overwhelming our blocker, who is there. By putting Ezaki in the fifth spot, I am making sure that he will face them both directly so that the others can leave him alone with those two and focus more on the other players. This way, there is no need for us to get fooled all the time like during the first set before."

Some of them winced unconsciously, especially those who were always targeted by this overwhelming tactic like Senki and Genta.

"Still, would it be too hard for Ezaki to handle everything alone?" As the captain, Hideo was always the first one to put himself in front of his teammates.

However, instead of answering this question directly, Miura turned his attention to the boy in focus and asked, "What do you think, Ezaki? Is it too difficult for you?"

Ezaki was taken aback when Miura suddenly called him out. However, under everyone's gaze, he didn't hesitate to nod and accept the new responsibility. "Don't worry, Sensei. With me there, they wouldn't be able to get through our defense so easily again."

"Good!" Miura nodded, satisfied with his attitude. "Also, we need to adjust our blocker line too. Get closer to the net, don't worry about the net touch violation. Even though you are not at a professional level yet, you are all pretty experienced in this game, so as long as you guys are careful, I am sure you can avoid touching the net whenever you jump."

"Why would we need to get closer to the net?" Senki couldn't help but ask, curious.

"This is one of the strategies to play against a quick attack, and I am sure, Genta, as a middle blocker, understands this." When all the attention turned to the middle blocker, the boy nodded silently. "In fact, it is not that complicated. By getting close to the net, you will have a shorter distance to cover when jumping to block the hit, giving you a better chance to execute an effective block. Also, hopefully, this will also intimidate their attackers. After all, seeing the opponent's blockers so close to them is also a scary experience, right?" The coach shrugged nonchalantly at the last part.

After that, Miura continued arranging new strategies for the team. For example, he instructed whoever players on the back row to tighten up the area on the back, allowing them to gather for a quicker response, particularly focusing on the middle attack that any setter tended to go whenever they wanted to do a quick attack. Not only that, he also emphasized to his players to get closer to the middle line, knowing full well that even though Shirayuki High had three powerful servers, not a single one of them had the habit of going for a long serve. He wanted to test his theory about whether it was coincidental or if the opponent tried to avoid this.

Overall, Miura really tore apart all the strategies that Shimo High had and built something completely new in the short period of intermission before the second set began. This shocked all the players there, not knowing that their coach could pull something so crazy like this so quickly. No, it was crazy because he made all of those adjustments so quickly, right after the first set was over. They didn't know if there was any head coach outside who could do something outrageous like what their coach did in this intermission.

"Man, if I didn't know better, I would think that Sensei is a top coach." Someone whispered lowly on the back. Unfortunately for him, Miura caught that and turned his head quickly at the boy, and the culprit – Ueno – could feel all the blood on his face drained instantly. "Ah, no, Sensei! I didn't mean that!"

"Huh, don't worry, I am not that offended." Miura just snorted amusedly at the boy. "After all, you were still in middle school the last time I was in action. Last year, you didn't have any chance to see it, right?"

This time, Ezaki blushed, feeling like he was responsible for it.

"Okay, let's not talk about something useless and depressing like that right now!" Miura clapped his hands again, attracting his players' attention. He glanced sideways toward the court where the referee had already checked his clock, signaling that it was almost time for the second set to begin. "I didn't make any adjustment for our offense because I still believe that in our best condition, we are still the superior team in this regard. Just stay calm and composed, and don't let them get any easy points again! No matter what happens next, always stay positive! Believe in yourself, and we will win this game! Do you understand me?!"

"YES, SIR!"