After their game against Omibouzo, the players from Shiroshikata packed up their gear coming off from their victory in the second round. The looks on their opponents' faces were painted with obvious sadness, after their elimination early in the tournament.
This is a major upset for Omibouzo, since their team nosedived into this painful humiliation of being out for the taking in the qualifiers. Last year, they made it until the semi-finals of both Inter-High and Spring High Qualifiers, so this fall early in the tournament is extremely hard for them.
That's the most hard-to-accept part of this tournament format – the sudden death elimination. One defeat can end it all. Unlike a round robin, where a loser's bracket is made to give another chance to those teams who suffered a setback, a sudden death format is unforgiving. However, this format is used commonly to shorten the duration of the tournament, so as not to compromise the education of the participating athletes.
As the players began to walk away, only one thought remained inside their minds. It's over for them. The third years, in particular, were already thinking of quiting from participating in the next qualifiers.
When the dust began to clear, the players only have each other to console themselves. Why is it that they have to face Shiroshikata, of all teams in the prefecture? Them being in their bracket was already synonymous to them not getting the chance to earn a spot in the nationals. They knew it was coming, but still, they weren't prepared for them to strike.
"Shiroshikata became even stronger than before – this year's crop is probably the best they had in the recent years. Like Takano, this school's team is another force to be reckoned with in the Nara Prefecture." Omibouzo's coach said to his players. "But that doesn't mean we can't improve ourselves and beat them someday too."
The boys from the team looked up to their old man, and their mood eventually became lighter. He continued, "So long as you don't surrender to their genius, you can always find other ways to counter them. It might not be now, and it might take an even longer time, but remember to never look down, for volleyball is a sport where you always look up." The light returned in the players' eyes as the coach finished.
The Stags of Shiroshikata were celebrating after their win – but not in a very loud fashion. More like, they were happy and that's it. No reason to be loud, since this is just the second round, and a lot of other things can still happen in the next few games. Then, they heard another voice.
"Congratulations, Coach Soma." Omibouzo's coach said as he approached Soma Yage of the Stags. "It won't be a surprise if this team can go all the way to the top of Japan." He said as he shook the coach's hands to show his appreciation. "Good luck on your run."
Coach Soma thought that the other coach was probably exaggerating his statement. "You're foreshadowing way too far, coach. But thank you, for the game and for the encouragement."
"Maybe I am, maybe I am not. We will never know Coach Soma."
The younger coach gave it a thought, and then, responded in a wiser manner. "Our team cannot just think of what can happen in a later time. We only focus on the 'now', and see how strong we've become."
The older coach chuckled. "Oh, pardon me, pardon. I see what you mean, and I do understand, that a win can never be guaranteed. I look forward to seeing more plays by your boys soon, Coach. And we will do better next time too, to give you more of a challenge."
After all is said and done, the teams parted ways, and returned to their respective schools. One team went home in low spirits, but rich with a new surge of food for thought, and the other, went home in high spirits, and unyielding resolve of keeping up their good work.
--
Miyagi Prefecture
*
Flightless Crows no more. The Powerhouse of the old is back. Karasuno, once again, regained its former glory.
As the second round of the Inter-High Preliminaries in the Miyagi Prefecture comes to a close, the Crows secured their spot in the third round by beating up Ohgi-Minami High School to a pulp in two straight sets.
The duo of Hinata Shoyo, and Kageyama Tobio, who made thundering noise in the last Spring Cup continued to rampage on the start of their prefectural tournament. Their current line-up is rather fresh, since Ennoshita Chikara took over the position in the left that was previously fielded by Azumane Asahi. Their ace, right now, is the master of signature cut-shots during the Spring Cup – Tanaka Ryunosuke. Yamaguchi Tadashi took the place in the right side.
[Precedent for Yamaguchi and Ennoshita's position changes: Remember that game of Karasuno vs Wakutani-Minami, when Ennoshita took Daichi's position in the right (OPP)? It was revealed that Ennoshita isnt used to spiking from the right, so I gave him the left side position (OH) that was once Asahi's.
As for Yamaguchi, remember in the game of Karasuno vs Nekoma in the Nationals? Inouka Sou, who is originally a middle blocker, was converted into a right-side hitter (OPP) by Coach Nekomata. I used the same logic with Yamaguchi, who is originally an MB, albeit a tad bit on the shorter side. So let's just assume that he improved his receives and spiking, earning him the OPP position for Karasuno's line up]
Other powerhouses in Miyagi too won their respective games – Aoba Johsai, Date Tech, and of course, Shiratorizawa. By the end of Round 2, it just so happened that Kageyama and Hinata was able to bump into Goshiki from Shiratorizawa.
"Goshiki-san! Congratulations on your win!" The jolly shrimpy middle blocker of Karasuno said to the bowl-cut.
Goshiki was surprised for a moment, then said, "Hinata! You too, congrats!"
Hinata replied, "I bet Shiratorizawa has been training hard lately. You had lots of practice games, right? You won them all, right?"
Goshiki was stupefied. How can he answer Hinata with a straight face? When what he expected was contrary to what actually happened? They didn't win all of their pre-tournament games from their various training sessions. They lost to Itachiyama and that particular team from Nara when they had the Golden Week Camp last time in Tokyo.
"Ah – eh – yeah hehe." He scratched his head as he tried to look dignified in front of Hinata.
"I can't wait to have a game with Shiratorizawa soon, right, Kageyama?"
Kageyama was scowling, but nodded and said, "Osu."
This time, Goshiki smiled along with them. "You better watch out, Hinata, Kageyama."
"We are, though." Kageyama said. "Lots of teams are strong here in Miyagi. If we're not careful, we'll never know what will hit us. We might suffer a sudden death if we become too lax."
'Damn right, this guy.' Goshiki thought. "Very well then, see you soon, Karasuno."
Everything is brewing just about everywhere, as the preparations for the bigger event of the summer volleyball season are beginning to take form. The stage is about to be set, and everyone from all over Japan are so hyped.