"Cut to the Quick" (Japanese:
Overview
Kamomedai reaches their peak in both offense and defense. Meanwhile, Karasuno is overwhelmed and unable to recover from the widening point gap. Despite giving their all, Karasuno experiences a crashing defeat in the first set.
Plot
Kageyama is greatly offended by Tsukishima asking him to quit running away. He immediately resorts to an aggressive middle attack to prove he has no intention of backing down.
Kamomedai's engine is revved up and running on all cylinders. Although Karasuno puts up a good fight, they are still unable to close the gap. Kamomedai continues to use a stack block to mark Karasuno's left while also stopping any attack from the middle. With Tsukishima up front, Karasuno's blocking is at its strongest. Tsukishima quickly reads Suwa's toss and guards against Hoshiumi's spike. However, Hoshiumi avoids the block by spiking toward the end line and scores despite Karasuno's efforts. Kamomedai gradually widens their lead over Karasuno. Afterwards, Bessho makes a floater serve that forces Asahi to receive. Kageyama sends the toss to Tanaka, who takes Kamomedai's triple block head on but accidentally drives the spike into the net. It appears that the point gap and pressure from Kamomedai has started to affect Karasuno.
Eventually, Karasuno switches in Kinoshita as a pinch server. He sends a tricky jump floater to Kanbayashi, who messes up the pass. Just when it seems like momentum is shifting, Hoshiumi crashes Karasuno's hope by executing a skillful swipe off of the blocker's hand. With Kamomedai reaching set point with a four-point lead, Sugawara is beginning to feel hopeless until Hinata's enthusiasm reenergized him. For their next offense, Karasuno goes for an elaborate decoying strategy. Hinata makes a horizontal jump to distract the blockers while Asahi emerges from the back for powerful spike. Although deceived by Hinata's movements, Gao is able to make a second jump and stops Asahi's spike to snatch the set win for his team.
Appearances
- Tobio Kageyama
- Kei Tsukishima
- Saeko Tanaka
- Aaron Murphy (Unnamed)
- Kōrai Hoshiumi
- Kazuyoshi Bessho
- Aikichi Suwa
- Sachirō Hirugami
- Shōyō Hinata
- Ryūnosuke Tanaka
- Izuru Nozawa
- Tadashi Yamaguchi
- Kenma Kozume
- Tetsurō Kuroo
- Suguru Daishō
- Mika Yamaka
- Yū Nishinoya
- Daichi Sawamura
- Asahi Azumane
- Kazuhito Narita
- Hisashi Kinoshita
- Kōshi Sugawara
- Chikara Ennoshita
- Taketora Yamamoto
- Tenma Udai
- Akiteru Tsukishima
- Keishin Ukai
- Keiichirō Kanbayashi
- Gao Hakuba
- Takanobu Aone
- Kenji Futakuchi
