Tournament day has finally come as Haruka and Kanata sees a familiar volleyball pair from last time. It’s obvious who it is.
In the first round, Haruka and Kanata faces off against Mai and Ai, whom they met in a swimsuit shop in the last episode. Haruka still annoyed that Mai and Ai bought the swimsuit she wanted. Kanata pokes Haruka while Ai stops Mai from escalating the confrontation. In the first set, Haruka and Kanata had an early advantage thanks to the other side messing up. However, Mai and Ai eventually saw through Kanata’s strategy and managed to catch up. Luckily, Haruka and Kanata manages to win the first set.
Unfortunately, the tide changes as Mai and Ai had an advantage since they now know their strategy. Aside from Haruka’s poor blocking skills, Kanata pokey strategy isn’t working since the angle she hits the ball is too high, making it easy to counter. Meanwhile, Claire and Emily swept through their first match. This is not surprising since they won second place in last year’s nationals, losing only to Narumi and Aya.
At a glance, it would seem like Haruka and Kanata is going to have a clean sweep. This is not so surprising since Mai and Ai usually play indoor volleyball and not used to beach volleyball. They made some silly mistakes such as serving the ball to the net and hitting the ball too many times. Still, it’s quite amazing how they managed to catch up despite not winning the first set.
After the first set ended, we learn more about Ai and Mai in a flashback. Apparently, Ai introduced Mai to indoor volleyball. Sure, Mai is short just like Kanata, but it’s interesting how Ai managed to convince her that height doesn’t matter in volleyball. I have to admit that this is a clever way to get Mai to become interested in the sport. Sadly, the beating tall people thing wasn’t true. The opponent’s team they faced in a tournament were taller and Mai’s team was no match for them. With that, Mai and Ai become determined to defeat Haruka and Kanata to make sure a loss like that doesn’t happen again.
In the second set, Mai and Ai duo finally managed to see through Kanata’s strategy. It seems that Kanata and Haruka is struggling with Mai’s team five to six points ahead. Even so, I still think Kanata and Haruka might pull through if Kanata can overcome her Pokey issues that Emily pointed out. Then again, maybe she is planning something that the other team does not expect yet. We have to wait and see next week. Also, that pony-tailed girl seems to have an interest in the match for some reason. I wonder why?
The New Justice Team are wonderful as expected. They too are worth rooting for but unfortunately for them they’re up against HaruKana, cousins in love.
Seeing the Hype Twins dominating was also delightful.
I’m very interested in what elevator girl wants with the twins. Methinks she’s scouting the top two teams of the Nationals tournament.
It took Mai and Ai to get into the grove of things, but it’s quite amazing how they done better in the second round. But still, I still think that Haruka and Kanata will pull through if they fix their minor flaws in their skills on the fly.
But yes, the Thomas twins are unbeatable.