This was the first time he had ever faced such a fast serve. He did not even have a chance to react before the ball was already by his feet. It was truly difficult to predict. This was also the first time he had encountered this kind of serving technique.
"Two types of serves… It really is just like the scouting report said."
Oikawa looked at the serve Atsumu had just driven over, and a trace of lingering fear flashed through his eyes. From the looks of it, the Inarizaki before them still had not revealed everything they had. Right now, both teams were only testing each other's strength.
Seen that way, this match might have only just begun.
The Inarizaki in front of them was far stronger than the Shiratorizawa they had faced before, perhaps even several times stronger. In that case, they would have to continue fighting through a grueling battle. Unless something unexpected happened, they probably would not have many chances left to keep letting Hank score through spikes.
Because after such a long period of probing between the two sides, Hank's spiking routes had already been mostly figured out by the opponent.
From here on, if they wanted to keep scoring, it looked like he had to connect his own play with the team's coordination.
"Not bad ball control."
Atsumu tossed the ball up. Then, the instant the referee blew the whistle, he sent the ball flying over again. With that extremely fast serve, he scored another point.
In an instant, all of Inarizaki erupted into cheers. Many people could not help standing up and cheering for Atsumu.
After all, scoring directly with a serve was the most straightforward method. It was also the easiest way to break through the opponent's defensive line.
"A line-hugging serve… As expected, the speed of the serve is extremely fast. Ordinary players can't grasp the instant it's served, which means almost no one can receive that ball."
"But I'm different."
After watching Atsumu serve twice, Hank already had a rough countermeasure in mind.
As long as he could disrupt the opponent's rhythm even once, the advantage of the line-hugging serve would basically disappear.
The opponent had been constantly using the referee's whistle and the short interval of a fast serve to make it so their side had no time to think about how to receive before the ball was already coming.
In that case, he just had to focus directly on Atsumu's serving hand.
That way, at the very least, he could get the ball up.
With that thought, Hank stepped forward with his lead leg and received Atsumu's serve. Although the receive was not exactly good, it was still enough to disrupt Atsumu's feel for the serve.
If they could seize this chance and take this point, then the opponent would no longer be able to keep serving.
"Give it to me."
After Hank bumped the ball to Oikawa, he immediately started running toward the net.
Because the opponent had no idea which hand Hank would use to spike next, everyone on the court was extremely tense. Even though Hank was still in the backcourt, the pressure he gave them was not small at all.
An ace with this kind of dominance was something that could hardly be found anywhere in the country.
After all, being able to make the opponent feel pressure even from the backcourt already proved that every player on the opposing side had completely regarded Hank as a threat.
He truly was a monster among monsters.
It was impossible to imagine just how far Hank could go next.
(End of Chapter)
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