A less than stellar showing at the Toukai Tournament kept Nagoya Seitoku under the radar at the nationals, where they quietly made a deep run to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the team's entire lineup was replaced by a more formidable group of exchange students, who jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Rikkaidai . It was later revealed that Rikkai deliberately lost the first two sets to push Akaya Kirihara's growth.