The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

As he walked onto the spot his favorite sport on the court, Yuki took a deep breath, trying to contain his excitement. Even though he had experienced so many ups and downs during his very short career in this sport, this was the first time he experienced a comeback as a part of the team that was chasing from behind.

Usually, it would be either the opponent who was chasing them down or those who gave up first when they were down by some points. However, this time, it was different. The fact that they were down by quite a lot, 8 points, makes it sweeter for him.

'Well, that just means our team's mentality is improved astronomically compared to the last Inter-high.' He mused.

As he bounced the ball on the service line, Yuki couldn't help but take a glance at the scoreboard. 18 – 16, they were still down by two points. However, in the last five minutes or so, they were the ones who suppressed the opponent, managing to take an 8 – 1 lead in that timestamp. Now that the momentum was on their side, it would be a fool for him if he couldn't capitalize on it.

'They are nervous.' He muttered in realization after taking a glance at the other side of the court. 'This is my chance to bring back the advantage to the team. I cannot mess up like before.'

Yeah, in Yuki's first turn to serve, he failed to score more than two points since his second attempt went too wide, which was also the turning point for the opponent to widen the gap earlier. However, Yuki didn't lose his confidence. If anything, he was on fire right now.

'They are still crowding in the middle. It seems they don't know about my service in the traffic trick. Well, they don't have a coach on the bench, so maybe that's why they don't have that information. Well, let's see if they can stop it without knowing what is coming for them.'

Thud!

When the referee blew the whistle, Yuki took the serve quickly, sending it straight to the crowd. There were three Oyama High players who moved immediately to reach the ball. However, they all stopped at the same time, allowing the ball to fall in the middle of the area they protected.

"YEAH!" Yuki clenched his fist, celebrating the point. "This is the first one! Come on!"

"Good job, Yuki! Give us another one!"

"Come on! One more point and it is a tie game!"

"We can do this!"

Amidst the cheers and encouragement from his teammates and the supporters on the stand, Yuki prepared for the next serve with more confidence. He waited until the referee blew the whistle before tossing the ball in the air and leaping forward. This time, instead of going for the crowd, he sent a nasty sidespin serve close to the sideline with no one from the opponent's side was able to stop it.

BAM!

"Another untouchable ace!"

"Tie game! We finally tie the game!"

"Come on, we can win this all!"

Yuki's face flushed red as he could barely contain his excitement. Now that the momentum was completely on his side, he decided to do something bold and pull up the serve he mastered the least, the plain, straightforward powerful jump serve.

BAM!

"I got it!"

"Oh, shit! It slipped!"

"YOSSHAAAA!"

After Yuki scored three serves in a row, the opponent finally had enough and called a timeout to cut off Tsunemori's momentum. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy to do so, considering this game was played in Tsunemori's home court. Even though they managed to catch their breath, it wasn't easy to grab the advantage again when they were under pressure. Now that the score was overturned, all the Oyama players regretted why they couldn't widen the lead more when they had the rare momentum earlier in the beginning of the game.

"Come on, Yuki! Give us six!"

"You can do this!"

It was after Yuki's fifth point from the serve in a row, and now, the glasses boy finally took a deep breath. It wasn't good to keep his spirit on fire all the time as it was exhausting to maintain it. He needed to keep everything steady or he would lose more in the future.

'Okay, after trick serves, spin, jump, floater, jump again, now it is time for another trick. Let's see if they can catch it this time.'

Thud!

Just like the first serve, Yuki aimed the ball straight to the heart of Oyama High's defense. However, unlike before, although the serve managed to startle a few of them, one particular player that Yuki identified as the team's defensive specialist managed to reach the ball before it could fall.

"Shit! Sorry, Kanemaru! A bit too high!"

"I got it! Senpai, move back! Give me some space!"

"Kanemaru! Right!"

Kanemaru, yam High's seter followed his senpai's command and sent a quick attack to the right. Unfortunately, even though it was such a perfect pass, Hirano read the intention one second quicker, forming an unbreakable wall on the front line to slam the ball back to Oyama High's side.

BAM!

"HELL, YEAH!"

"Come on, Hirano! It is time for you to join the fun!"

"Rano-senpai, that is such a badass block! Good job!"

"We finally have a block! Come on!"

Compared to the last few points Yuki scored, it was clear that all of the Tsunemori players were more excited for this play. After all, they were used to Yuki doing some shit from behind the service line. However, after getting oppressed by the opponent's line of blockers, it felt good for them to finally have their own revenge.

And after that, as if he didn't want to stop the momentum, Yuki pulled another crazy sidespin serve again, now going far close to the baseline. Oyama's defensive specialist dived forward acrobatically, trying to save it. Unfortunately, the ball curved sharply outside, escaping from his reach before falling straight behind the line.

When he saw this, Yuki who was still out of breath after taking serve jumped immediately, roaring straight in front of the supporters. "COME ON!"