I started reading this manga title awhile ago, but for some reason, my library system only had the first three volumes. I devoured them pretty quickly and *needed* to know what happened next, so I binge-watched the anime. Sadly, the anime is still incomplete and hasn't released any episodes since December 2016!! Thankfully, my library has started purchasing more volumes of the manga, so it's given me an excuse to revisit this story and these characters.
This volume in particular introduces readers to the Nekoma squad, an old rival of Karasuno's who lost touch after the latter lost their coach. As far as story goes, not much happens outside of a practice match between the two teams, but this game serves to further demonstrate how underdeveloped of a team Karasuno is, despite the raw talent their players have. One of my favourite things about this series is how *hard* the characters actually have to work to become better players (unlike, say, Kuroko's Basketball, which has characters with stupid levels of skill that treads outside the realm of realism.)
I especially love the end of this volume as the characters from both teams get some time to chat after their practice matches. The humour, and seeing them genuinely enjoy each other's company was very sweet and offered some more humour (Yamamoto and Ryo were standouts.)
There's still a lot of volumes for me to read to be caught up, but I look forward to doing that this year and spending more time with these characters, even knowing how the plot will shake out for the next long while.