There's a saying: "The onlooker sees more than the player."
What does that mean?
Well, to put it into context, when Karasuno was on the court, they thought Aoba Johsai was already going all out on them. But once they got back to the stands and watched from the sidelines, they realized… oh. Turns out Aoba Johsai had actually been holding back earlier.
Otherwise, just look at what they're doing to Wakutani Minami now. This wasn't just domination, it was brutal, inhumane.
One only needed to watch Akashi Asuka's spikes and Oikawa Tooru's sets to wonder: Are these guys even human?
Honestly, facing a team with Oikawa alone was already tough for Wakutani Minami. As a seasoned setter, Oikawa had mastered a wide range of techniques and variations. No matter the direction or angle, he could easily send the ball precisely where it needed to go.
Just defending against his sets had Wakutani Minami's players gasping for air.
And then, as if that weren't enough, Aoba Johsai had another monster on their hands.
Before, with just Oikawa, Wakutani Minami could sometimes get lucky and block a few spikes.
But now? Even if they managed to read Oikawa's sets, Akashi Asuka would still slam the ball right through a triple block and straight into the court.
Wakutani Minami's blocks were like paper in front of Akashi. Honestly, if you weren't careful, he might just literally tear through you.
No, seriously.
A moment ago, one of Wakutani Minami's middle blockers made the mistake of blocking with poor form. He only got one finger on Akashi's spike, and tore a muscle at the base of his finger. He had to leave the court immediately.
That scene shook the rest of Wakutani Minami's players.
Come on, we're here to play volleyball, not to risk our lives!
From that point on, both Aoba Johsai and the Karasuno members watching in the stands noticed that Wakutani Minami's blocking intensity had noticeably dropped.
And that just made things worse.
Wakutani Minami had never been known for their blocking. Now, it was as flimsy as a public bus entrance, anyone could walk right through if you just showed them a little something.
Despite being a seeded team, Wakutani Minami didn't even make it past 20 points in two consecutive sets.
Final score: 2–0.
Aoba Johsai breezed through the quarterfinals.
And with that, the matches for Day 2 of the prelims came to an end.
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Day 3 of the Prelims.
Aoba Johsai's first opponent of the day: Dewaichi High.
A solid team that had made it to the semifinals of last year's nationals qualifier. Not to be underestimated.
Still, they couldn't do much when the match opened with Akashi Asuka and Oikawa Tooru taking turns serving bombs. Yet, impressively, they only dropped three points during those first two rounds.
It seemed Aoba Johsai's middle-aged coach, Nobuteru Irihata, who was clearly losing hair with each match, had found a winning strategy. For the past few games, he had made a point of putting Akashi and Oikawa in the first and second rotation slots.
Not for any deep tactical reason.
Mostly just to flex his team's two powerhouse servers.
Dewaichi's strength lay in defense.
But not in blocking, rather, their entire team had incredible receive skills. In that way, they were a bit like Nekoma. It was probably thanks to this that they only lost three points to Aoba Johsai's monstrous opening serves.
Set One.
Akashi Asuka once again showcased his unmatched offensive power.
Dewaichi tried multiple times to stop him with double, even triple blocks, but he tore right through them with ease.
Whether it was from above, the side, or right through the middle, Akashi's spikes broke through Dewaichi's walls without mercy.
Ironically, it was the back row that managed to dig up several of his strongest attacks.
So halfway through the first set, Dewaichi shifted tactics. They stopped bothering with the net and just let Akashi go wild up front, while they focused entirely on digging in the back.
And surprisingly... it worked.
Maybe Akashi was so used to facing resistance at the net that when it suddenly disappeared, it threw off his rhythm. His spikes started to lose their edge, slightly mistimed, slightly off-power.
Dewaichi even managed to get a few counter attacks in from those digs.
Not that it mattered much, Akashi still blocked all of them with ease. But Dewaichi's strategy at least gave other teams in the stands something to think about, like maybe they'd found a possible weakness in Aoba Johsai.
Yeah right.
These were teams that couldn't even survive their first-round matches. Thinking they had the answer to beating Aoba Johsai was downright hilarious.
And while Akashi himself may have found such opponents boring, the rest of Aoba Johsai certainly didn't.
In fact, if you took Akashi out of the equation, Aoba Johsai could be summed up in one phrase:
"No defining traits."
Sure, with Oikawa running the offense, their plays were smooth and well-coordinated. But without Akashi, they didn't stand out in any single aspect, offense, blocking, defense, or teamwork.
They weren't bad in any area.
But they weren't spectacular either.
Take blocking, for example. Without Akashi, their best blocker was probably Issei Matsukawa. At 187 cm and with solid experience, he could limit even Karasuno's "Freak Quick attack."
But limit is the key word. He couldn't shut it down completely.
And against Ushijima's spikes? Forget it.
Same goes for offense.
Former ace Iwaizumi had great technique and strong fundamentals, but his physical limits prevented him from consistently scoring in clutch moments.
In the original story, Iwaizumi couldn't land a match-winning point against Karasuno.
The same happened against Shiratorizawa.
So ultimately, Aoba Johsai's biggest strength… was that they didn't have any major weaknesses.
And because of that,
They were absurdly consistent.
Against teams stronger than them, they'd still lose.
But against teams weaker than them? There was no way they'd lose either.
And that was exactly how their match against Dewaichi played out:
Aoba Johsai spiked, Dewaichi dug it.
Dewaichi attacked, Aoba Johsai blocked it.
Alright then, both sides seemed to say. Let's see who cracks first.
The result was obvious.
Dewaichi couldn't keep up. Aoba Johsai's overall balance was superior. Dewaichi might've had an amazing defense, but their offense just couldn't compete.
In the end, after two solid sets, Aoba Johsai secured a smooth semifinal victory and advanced to the finals.
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