"Volleyball isn't a sport won or lost by height alone, Hyakuzawa!"
Taishi Minamida, Kakugawa's libero, patted his teammate's arm with a hint of exasperation.
"Otherwise, we should just asure everyone's height before the match!"
"So why fight at all?"
"But…"
Yūdai Hyakuzawa still looked confused.
He hadn't been playing volleyball for very long, and in his impression, it was a very simple sport.
In every ga they'd played so far, no one had been able to stop him.
As long as a teammate set the ball for him, he could leap and spike it down.
No resistance.
Because his opponents' blocks had never been able to reach his attacks at all.
And his blocks could shut down most attacks from the other side, too.
Hyakuzawa's path in volleyball had been smooth sailing so far.
He had never encountered any setbacks.
So naturally, he believed volleyball was a simple ga.
As long as you were tall enough, you could dominate everything.
Yuzuru Komaki had stayed silent until now, since the atmosphere among the team was heavy, and he didn't know what to say.
But finally, he couldn't hold back any longer.
"Hyakuzawa! Being the champion ans sothing—sothing real!"
"You might not know, but in this year's top four, there was a player very similar to you."
"Oh?"
"Soone… like ?"
Hyakuzawa looked at him with a bit of doubt.
"Yes."
Komaki nodded.
"He's from Kamodai—Hakuba Gao. He's 203 cm tall, two centiters taller than you."
"He's probably the tallest player in the entire tournant!"
"And he's a second-year, with a full year more experience in volleyball than you."
"He's probably better than you in every way."
"But even so, he wasn't the ace of their team."
"Their coach, who spent years coaching in Italy's Serie A, trained him…"
"But even with a player like that, Kamodai only placed fourth in the tournant."
"Now do you understand what a championship team represents?"
"The national tournant… that's the stage for the truly strong."
"And the champions? They're the strongest among the strong!"
"A team strong enough to trample every other strong team beneath their feet!"
"Uhh…"
Hyakuzawa scratched his head, still a bit lost.
Seeing his expression, the others around him sighed in unison.
Honestly, they could understand where Hyakuzawa was coming from.
After all, he'd only just started volleyball, and he'd never gone up against truly skilled players.
Looking at Hyakuzawa's clueless face, Komaki suddenly took a deep breath.
"If Hyakuzawa says that…"
"Then we, as his seniors, can't afford to be afraid!"
"So what if it's the champion team?"
"You never know the outco until the match is played!"
"If we're already scared before even stepping on the court…"
"That's the last thing we should ever allow!"
"We…"
Isao Inagaki was montarily at a loss for words.
Not just him—the rest of Kakugawa felt the sa.
They had to admit, the mont they saw the tournant bracket, they were filled with despair.
But after hearing Komaki's words, they snapped back to reality.
Even if it was the champion team, were they really going to let themselves be crushed by the na alone?
As juniors, Hyakuzawa was watching their reaction!
That dazed, hopeless look from earlier—how humiliating must that have seed to him?
"Ahem!"
Inagaki cleared his throat.
"Komaki's right."
"There's still plenty of ti before the match!"
"We can use it to study them thoroughly!"
"As long as we stay determined…"
"Even if they're champions, they're not unbeatable!"
"Let's go, everyone!"
"Yeah!!"
—
"We're actually in the sa group as Karasuno?"
Inside Date Tech's gymnasium, voices of disbelief echoed.
"In other words, if we win our first two matches, we'll have to face them?"
"What are we supposed to do about that…"
"Why is this year's draw so unlucky? Just our luck, seriously!"
"Hey!"
"Don't sigh like that!"
"Isn't it aweso that we'll have a chance to face the champions in the main draw?"
A third-year and Date Tech's attacker, clapped his teammate on the shoulder, excitent shining in his eyes.
"But… !"
"Our win rate against Karasuno in practice matches is ridiculously low!"
Wing spiker scratched his head, looking helpless.
Actually, "ridiculously low" was putting it kindly.
After the Inter-High qualifiers, Date Tech had played several practice matches against Karasuno.
In the semifinals of those qualifiers, they'd been completely overwheld by Shiratorizawa.
But Karasuno had then taken down Shiratorizawa 3–0 in the finals.
That made everyone at Date Tech eager to test themselves in a scrimmage against Karasuno.
In those matches, the win-loss ratio had been 1:9.
In other words, they only won one match out of ten.
And ever since Karasuno returned from winning the national championship, they hadn't practiced with them again.
Watching Karasuno's growth throughout the tournant, it was clear they'd gotten even stronger.
So against such a powerhouse… did they really have any hope?
Seeing the look on everyone's faces, Third Year spoke calmly.
"Of course I know the odds are slim."
"They're the champions, after all."
"They even beat the runner-up team, who was considered second-best in the entire country."
"So for a team like us, who didn't even make it to nationals, our chances are small."
"But…"
"I believe we all play volleyball because we want to win."
With a bright grin, he continued:
"Every ti we feel our own skills improve… every ti we get to challenge stronger opponents…"
"That's when volleyball really becos exciting."
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