Chapter 5: Individual Training and Team Practice Match
Several days had passed since the Yukigaoka volleyball team's vertical jump measurements, and the terrifying jump heights of the third-year group not only shocked the girls' basketball supervising teacher tremendously, but also left an indelible impression on the three first-year newcomers.
Another third-year student, due to his extremely low presence, was overlooked by the PE teacher. Later on, he was given a supplementary test, and thus a 301cm vertical reach record was added to the volleyball club's log.
Yukigaoka Gymnasium No. 3.
During club activity time, all volleyball team members were assigned their respective training content.
Hinata Shoyo and Hyakuzawa Yudai, these two naturally gifted beginners whose fundamentals weren't solid enough, were arranged by Ichise Guren to the center of the court. The two began stepping back and forth through the ladder rungs, practicing their basic footwork and foot agility according to the methods Ichise Guren had previously taught them.
Between these two, although Hyakuzawa Yudai had longer training time, his excessive height made it genuinely difficult for him to showcase his talent in receiving. As for Hinata Shoyo, his past two years of self-training - without guidance, without practice partners, and of extremely low quality - could hardly be called proper training at all.
Fortunately, over the past few months, Ichise Guren had intensively drilled Hinata Shoyo in volleyball fundamentals, barely bringing him up to the level of a junior high volleyball club member. But basic training still couldn't be neglected - it had to be practiced every day.
Meanwhile, Hoshino Masaru was being mercilessly tormented in his receiving abilities by a serving machine imported from Brazil. The 90 km/h serves were truly giving Hoshino Masaru quite the ordeal.
"What Kind Of Training Is This! Who Could Possibly Receive These Machine Serves!"
Taking advantage of the gaps between the machine's serves, Hoshino Masaru frantically complained about his team's training intensity.
"You should count yourself lucky. This kind of machine is barely equipped by many countries' national teams. Besides, it's only at 90 km/h serve speed right now. This machine's maximum ball speed is 130 km/h. If I wasn't worried about accidentally injuring you, I would have set it straight to 100."
Ichise Guren was multitasking - performing one-handed spinning ball control training while standing on one foot on a slanted triangular block, doing single-leg squats to enhance his balance training. He still found time to counter Hoshino Masaru's complaints.
On the other side, the three little newcomers were simply doing basic underhand passing drills. After Ichise Guren corrected their passing posture, footwork, and techniques, he became hands-off, letting them train on their own.
According to Ichise Guren's training plan, they first needed to achieve 500 consecutive self-passes, then they could start passing against the wall. Once they could achieve 300 consecutive wall passes, they could participate in 2v2 matches.
As he put it: "You're two years behind us in physical development time, and your volleyball experience is insufficient. Practice fundamentals first, otherwise if we play matches directly, I'm afraid we'll crush your confidence. Once you can receive our balls, that'll be pretty good."
"If you really feel like you can't persist, then think about us third-years' match performances. That will become your motivation."
In another two and a half months, this group would be participating in the prefectural preliminaries for the Inter-High tournament. Rather than having three little ones participate in overall offense and defense at a half-baked level, it was better to focus on training their defense.
Blocking actually relied heavily on talent, especially height. So after training their passing, Ichise Guren planned to drill them hard on digging and receiving. By then, there would be four serving machines here bombarding them relentlessly.
After an hour of training, everyone had begun resting. Ichise Guren clapped his hands, calling over everyone who was preparing to start their second training session.
"Everyone, it's already April now. There are only three months until this year's Inter-High volleyball preliminaries. To enhance everyone's match experience, today we third-years - myself, Hinata, Hyakuzawa, and Hoshino - will demonstrate first."
"We'll have a 2v2 match. After today, we'll start having 3v3 matches. I'll make sure everyone accumulates more match experience!"
"Before we came, the volleyball club couldn't play official matches. Now, we're here. Our team can participate in official matches. Since we're participating in matches, we have to keep winning, keep playing."
"In summary, our goal for this Inter-High tournament is only one."
Ichise Guren paused, beginning to survey the entire court, observing each team member's expression.
Hyakuzawa Yudai's expression was extremely serious, with a quality called determination slowly rising within him. Hinata Shoyo was as excited as always, unable to suppress his anticipation and joy for playing official matches. He had already clenched his fists in front of his chest, his feet unconsciously beginning to step in place.
Hoshino Masaru remained silent, just seriously watching Ichise Guren. The other three little ones were simpler - they looked nervous with sweat beading on their foreheads. Good thing the matches didn't start until July, otherwise they might have suffered from insomnia tonight.
2v2 Practice Match
Teams: Hinata Shoyo & Hyakuzawa Yudai vs Ichise Guren & Hoshino Masaru
Tweet!!!
The opening whistle sounded. Ichise Guren took the ball with both hands to the serving area and began spinning it.
Across the net, Hinata Shoyo and Hyakuzawa Yudai's faces changed dramatically, expressions of "this is bad news" appearing on their faces. Looking at Ichise Guren across from them, who said nothing and only focused on spinning the ball.
Hinata Shoyo changed from his usual completely excited state when playing volleyball. A state that was half excitement, half worry began to emerge. He was very happy inside to be able to play a 2v2 match against Ichise Guren as an opponent, but the phantom pain on his face instinctively made him begin to feel a bit fearful.
"Hyakuzawa! Big trouble! Right from the start, Ichise already seems to have entered his zone!"
Hyakuzawa Yudai responded with a sound. "Ah, that's not a good sign."
Slowly exhaling, Hyakuzawa Yudai began coaxing Hinata Shoyo to take the serve that he himself should have received.
"Hinata, you go receive Guren-nii's serve."
"Eh? Why should I receive it?"
Although Hinata Shoyo was competitive and loved volleyball very much, he wasn't actually stupid. Without turning his head, he responded irritably with a question.
Hyakuzawa Yudai also didn't turn his head. At this moment, both of them had entered a state of constant readiness to receive, not daring to take their eyes off Ichise Guren for even a moment.
"I'm too tall. If I want to successfully receive this ball, I'll definitely have to dive to the ground. With my agility, the time it takes to get up and then approach for a spike would be too long. It's different with you. You're shorter and more agile than me, and better at receiving. Besides, if I receive the ball, then you'll be the one spiking!"
Hyakuzawa Yudai finished all the reasons he could think of in one breath. And he truly thought this way. Although usually a bit simple, he really couldn't be called a stupid giant. His competitive spirit wasn't weak either. Since they were standing on opposite sides of the court, Ichise Guren and he were opponents.
"Oh! I'll do it!"
Having finished discussing tactics, the two prepared seriously for Ichise Guren's serve.
On the other side of the net, Ichise Guren paid no attention to what the opponents were saying. Serving wasn't an attack where the defending side could successfully receive it just by discussing who would take it.
He simply immersed himself in the sensation when spinning the ball - the feeling of his palms, fingers, and the volleyball rubbing and making contact, the feedback transmitted to his brain. A soft, comfortable sensation.
His gaze became focused, and the aura around him even created a momentary stillness. The two receivers immediately felt their scalps tingle. It was as if across from them wasn't Ichise Guren, but a beast whose face couldn't be clearly seen, one that hunted daily in the mountains and forests.
Hinata Shoyo, who had stronger intuition, even seemed to see the bloody stains on that beast's teeth. And Hoshino Masaru, standing on the same side of the court as Ichise Guren, also felt a strong sensation of danger from behind and to the side. He unconsciously raised both hands to protect the back of his head.
"This volleyball club has so many monsters. A giant over 195cm tall while still in junior high, a short guy with explosive lateral speed and incredibly strong jumping ability."
Hoshino Masaru used his peripheral vision to look at the Yukigaoka volleyball team captain who was currently on his side.
"Ichise Guren... always has this overwhelming presence that goes straight to your skull. He's exactly like a super big boss from a shounen manga."
Ichise Guren's hands, which had been spinning the ball, pressed down and stopped the rotating volleyball in his hands. He adjusted his breathing, bounced the ball against the ground with his right hand, feeling the force and sensation of the impact.
Then his left hand tossed the volleyball high up, he took his approach, preparing to jump. The red team's two players stared intently at the volleyball in mid-air, their feet ready to move at any moment to receive the ball.
"Whoosh!"
A intense sound of cutting through air, in their field of vision, a body ascending at a speed so fast it seemed to leave afterimages. Leaping high, swinging his arm to strike the ball.
The heel of his palm made first contact with the ball's surface, followed by his palm and fingers. The transfer of kinetic energy was incredibly smooth, flowing from his palm to the ball's surface, then from the ball's contact point throughout the entire volleyball.
The powerful elastic deformation took away a small portion of kinetic energy, followed immediately by an explosively exaggerated volleyball movement speed.
Bang! Bang!!
As if someone had taken a revolver and fired two shots right next to their ears - it was deafening.
"What?!!"
Hinata Shoyo and Hyakuzawa Yudai, who only turned their heads to look after the volleyball had already hit the ground, were both in shock. Beads of sweat the size of beans dripped from both their foreheads.
"Hey, I say, Hinata, did you see that clearly?"
Hyakuzawa Yudai asked with complete disbelief on his face.
"Not at all. I only saw the moment he jumped and swung his arm, then it seemed like something flew past me."
Hinata Shoyo also wore a grave expression. If every serve was like this, this match might end in defeat.
Then came the belated whistle. Serve in bounds, point valid, one point scored.
1:0
Kawashima frantically gestured in panic, signaling the other two teammates responsible for the scoreboard to hurry up and flip it.
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