Despite a strong field, the Karasuno High volleyball team advances past the preliminary round of the Harutaka tournament in Miyagi prefecture to reach the third round.

Karasuno High School made it through the Miyagi prefecture preliminaries for the Harutaka Volleyball Tournament, which was crowded with strong teams, and advanced to the third round by defeating Hyogo Prefecture representative Inarizaki High School, which was considered one of the favorites for the championship. Their opponent, Nekoma High School, used to have a rivalry with Karasuno, and although their interactions with each other decreased at one point, after Hinata and the others joined the club, they once again became good friends, working out together at training camps and practice games. The battle is called the "Battle at the Garbage Dump'' because of the "crow'' and "cat'' names in the school's name. Their play styles are completely opposite; Karasuno is super offensive, while Nekoma is a defensive team with a motto of "connection." They will finally face their first official match with the current members, and they will engage in a heated match on the stage of the national tournament.