While watching a volleyball match on TV, Shouyou Hinata, a young and easily influenced individual, becomes enamored with the "Little Giant" of Karasuno High School and decides to pursue the sport in the hope of achieving great heights. Being admitted to the same school as his idol, Hinata tries to join the volleyball team despite his short stature. Unfortunately, he encounters Tobio Kageyama, the "King of the Court," with whom he had a painful defeat in middle school. Their ungracious meeting and ensuing rivalry prompt the Karasuno team to prohibit them both from joining the club unless they can operate as a cohesive unit. Although reluctant, their passion for the sport motivates them to devise a plan to demonstrate their ability to work together to the other members. As the two freshmen form a peculiar setter-and-ace bond, a former rival school invites Karasuno to participate in practice matches, reigniting the competition between the two institutions.