Kamomedai High School (Japanese:
Volleyball Club[]
Kamomedai's volleyball team is a team focused on three core tenets: serving, blocking, and mental fortitude. Of their six starting players, five of them make use of a jump serve or jump floater, with three of their players (Hoshiumi, Hirugami, and Suwa) noted by Shimada to have particularly "nasty" serves. Their blocking is among the best in the nation, likened to a maxed-out version of Date Tech High by Ukai. Like Date Tech, they specialize in read blocking, and they employ tactics such as the bunch shift in which all three blockers bunch up in the middle of the court, stack blocking in which all three blockers bunch up on one side of the court to mark the opposing ace or another powerful spiker, and shading in which two blockers bunch up in the middle and a third is deployed to the edge of the court, almost at the pin.
Kamomedai's greatest strength, instilled onto them by Coach Aaron Murphy, is the mental toughness of its players. Their minds and quality of play do not deteriorate based on the state of the game, and thus, they are unaffected by the opponents' actions or even losing sets. The players have expressed that they do not believe in the concept of momentum, and thus are able to play their best under any circumstances. Murphy likens this to seagulls being able to fly in any conditions.
The team's most well-known players are three of their second-years: Kōrai Hoshiumi, Sachirō Hirugami, and Gao Hakuba. Hoshiumi, known as the "Little Giant", is the team's ace, known for his incredibly high jump and mastery of midair battles. Hirugami, nicknamed the "Immovable Hirugami", is its cornerstone blocker, feared for his ability to never fall for decoys and his mastery of read blocking. Hakuba, in spite of his lack of experience, is a towering 203 cm player and very formidable on both offense and defense.
The team is described by Ukai as having placed in the top eight the previous year and is not a well known powerhouse but have gotten very good in the most recent years; most likely due to Murphy being the new coach and focusing on strengthening certain areas.[1]
Members[]
Girls' Club (Former)
Interhigh Nationals (2012)[]
Quarterfinal
- Kamomedai High School vs ??? (?:2 / ??)
Spring High National Tournament (2013)[]
For nationals, Kamomedai wasn't exempt from the first round.
First Round
- Kamomedai High School vs Chikuida High School [Ibaraki] (2:0 / 25-20, 25-18)
Second Round
- Kamomedai High School vs Shinta Tech High School [Shiga] (2:? / ??)
Third Round
- Kamomedai High School vs Takagiyama High School [Aichi] (2:0 / ??, 25-22)
Quarterfinal
- Kamomedai High School vs Karasuno High School [Miyagi] (2:1 / 25-20, 22-25, 25-23)
Semifinal
- Kamomedai High School vs Ichibayashi High [Fukuoka] (?:3 / ??)
Spring High National Tournament (2014)[]
Final
- Kamomedai High School vs Itachiyama Institute (3:? / ??)
Spring High National Tournament (2015)[]
Third Round
- Kamomedai High School vs ??? (?:2 / ??)
Trivia[]
- Kamome (鴎) in Kamomedai translates to seagull.
- Kamomedai has attended the Spring Tournament for three years in a row with 15 appearances overall.
- Their official team banner reads: "習慣は第二の天性なり" ("Shūkan wa Daini no Tensei Nari") which translates to "Habit Is Second Nature".
- They are the first team in the series to have a non-Japanese coach and one with experience in the pro-leagues.
- Most Kamomedai members are named after various locations in Nagano Prefecture.
- In the manga, Kamomedai faces Ichibayashi in the semifinals. However, in the anime, Fukurōdani is placed on the upper right instead of Ichibayashi, meaning Kamomedai and Fukurōdani would face each other in the semifinals.
- It's unknown if this a corrected error in the manga or anime.
- Although the appearance is brief during the anime, during Kamomedai's first match of the Spring Tournament, a different player is seen wearing the #12 jersey.
- During the team's debut in episode twelve, the libero wearing the number 14 is seen in the front row. He is not seen in the manga.