"Yamaguchi, put some power in that serve!" Daichi shouted while watching Yamaguchi gear up for the serve, who nodded confidently.
"I can't fall behind! I need to prove my worth no matter what!" Yamaguchi thought as he jumped and hit the ball, sending it floating across the court, catching the attention of the Date Tech players. They watched as it soared over the net and suddenly dropped just before the midline.
"I've got it!" Sakunami yelled, diving to the floor and sliding his hand under the ball to stop Yamaguchi's ace, directing the pass to Koganegawa, who positioned himself under it, staring at the ball without even glancing at his teammates.
"Isn't that gonna be a dump shot?" Daichi asked, puzzled after seeing Koganegawa's odd technical move.
"I think so…" Asahi agreed, equally confused, jumping alongside Daichi and Tanaka after reading Koganegawa's obvious attack. As he leapt, Koganegawa pulled off a dump shot that got easily blocked by Karasuno's triple block.
3-1 Karasuno
"Damn it! They saw my attack coming!" Koganegawa groaned, clutching his head.
"Of course they did! It was way too obvious, clear as the sun you'd go for that move. I've told you before, you're 193cm—just jump and smash it into their court, you idiot!" Futakuchi scolded.
"Sorry! I forgot!" Koganegawa said.
"Now that I think about it, I'm not sure putting that number two up to serve right from the start was a good idea…" Ukai mused.
"What do you mean?" Takeda asked.
"Well, he's their best attacker. That white-haired number isn't bad, but his spikes aren't as dangerous. For a while, they won't have the number two and the tall setter up at the net together—that lineup would be trouble for us. They lose a bit on the serve by not shaking our defense, but their block's already strong enough to be a problem on its own…" Ukai analyzed.
Yamaguchi served again toward Date Tech's court to kick off another rally.
"Chill, I've got this!" Futakuchi said, eyeing Yamaguchi's float serve coming his way and managing to receive it before it hit the ground.
"Go, Kogane! Smash that ball, you idiot!" Futakuchi shouted, deliberately setting the pass at a height for Koganegawa to jump and spike it over Karasuno's block, hitting Hinata's wrists and flying out of bounds.
3-2 Karasuno
"Crap… I couldn't get it this time!" Hinata sighed.
"No big deal, we'll stop it next time!" Daichi encouraged.
Substitution: Yamaguchi (Tsukishima) out, Nishinoya in.
Substitution: Sakunami out, Fukiage in.
After Date Tech's point, it was Aone's turn. He held the ball briefly, tossed it up, and jumped, unleashing a powerful jump serve toward Karasuno's court.
"That guy could do that before!?" Tanaka thought, watching the ball zip over the net with force but sail across the court and land out of bounds.
4-2 Karasuno
"…" Aone looked slightly disappointed as he saw his serve go out, then got subbed out for Sakunami.
"Don't sweat it! It was close! You'll get your ace next time!" Koganegawa said, trying to cheer up Aone, who nodded as he headed to the bench.
"Let's go!" Tanaka said, grabbing the ball and serving toward Date Tech's court. Sakunami received it and passed it to Koganegawa.
"Obara!" Koganegawa called, setting a decent ball for Obara, who jumped and faced a block from Hinata and Asahi. He tried to spike around it but hit Hinata's hand, softening the blow as it drifted back to Karasuno's side.
"Free ball!" Tanaka said, passing it to Kageyama, who saw Hinata raise his arms but not signal for a quick. So, he sent a high ball far from the net. Hinata jumped, facing Date Tech's triple block, and without hesitation, smashed a spike that ricocheted off Fukiage's hands and went out.
5-2 Karasuno
"Tsk!" Fukiage grunted, annoyed at being outplayed by Hinata.
The game went on, and after a few more point exchanges, both teams could be seen hydrating and chatting during a timeout, with the scoreboard showing 14-8 in Karasuno's favor—they'd taken control of the match.
Date Tech POV:
"We're in trouble… the biggest issue being Karasuno's number ten. Ever since he moved to the attack zone, he hasn't given our blocks a break…" Takuro Oiwake, Date Tech's coach, said in a firm tone.
"Aone… I need you to focus on blocking number ten. They've only used it once, but that super-quick of theirs is real trouble. I trust you can handle it," Oiwake told Aone, who just nodded.
Karasuno POV:
"Alright, guys! We're doing great, but now they've got their strongest lineup on the court, so we can't let up. Let's finish this first set quick!" Ukai said.
"Yes!" everyone shouted in unison.
As the match resumed, Kageyama jumped and hit the ball hard toward Date Tech's court. This time, Onagawa received it in defense, struggling a bit before passing it to Koganegawa.
"Futakuchi-san!... Oops!" Koganegawa said, setting a ball higher than intended for Futakuchi.
"Too high!" Futakuchi sighed, straining to jump and attack, only for it to hit Asahi's hands.
"Touched!" Asahi shouted, glancing over his shoulder.
"Free ball!" Daichi said, passing to Kageyama.
"To me!" Hinata called.
"Got it!" Kageyama agreed, setting for Hinata, who quickly noticed Aone jumping to block him. But Hinata smashed the ball hard—thanks to his new training—grazing Aone's fingertips and sending it flying to the back of the court.
15-8 Karasuno
From there, a duel unfolded between Hinata and Aone, who focused on trying to block him. But in this first set, Hinata and Karasuno came out on top, dominating with Hinata's standout performance to win 25-17.