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I've had a look online and can't find any evidence that the term "Ace" refers
to a position in volleyball; the only definition I could find was that of a
service ace.

Is this term solely used for the sake of the anime/manga or is there any
evidence that points to its use in real life?


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haikyuu
Is the "Ace" position in Haikyuu just made up for the manga/anime?


It's not a "position" in the same sense that "libero" and "middle blocker" are
positions. That is to say, you probably aren't going to find any references to
an "ace" as a position in, say, [the Japan Volleyball Association's
rulebook](https://www.jva.or.jp/play/rulebook.html).

When _Haikyuu!!_ refers to Azumane as Karasuno's "ace", that's in the usual
colloquial sense - he's the best (offensive) player on the team. In English,
this sense of "ace" seems to be fairly restricted to baseball (where it refers
to the best pitcher on the team), but the Japanese equivalent (エース _ēsu_ ,
borrowed from English "ace") is used fairly often in real life for team-
leading players in other team sports as well, including (at minimum) soccer
and volleyball.

As it turns out, this turn of phrase has made it way into other parts of
Japanese volleyball lingo. A wing spiker (Eng. "outside hitter" or "opposite
hitter") who focuses primarily on offense may also be referred to as a "super
ace". But this is not the sense in which _Haikyuu!!_ tends to use the term
"ace".


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The player who scores the most, being the ace, is an "opposite hitter" or
attacker.

> The opposite hitter is the player who most often scores the most points in
> the team.

[This site](http://www.volleyballadvisors.com/volleyball-positions.html)
pretty much explains the positions played in volleyball and it's easy to
understand what they actually mean when they call him "ace", it's almost
always in any sport that uses the title; the player who scores the most.


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From the position stand points, the ACE seems to be the right-side hitter (in
volleyball terminology) that is directly opposite of the setter. They are the
strongest blockers because they have to block the ”wing spiker” or left-side
hitter which is typically their best hitter. They are typically left handed,
tall, and able to run shoots, 9, and 7s (behind the back sets usually). If
they are really good hitters, it’s a HUGE advantage to the team because the
opponents will have a weaker block on that side, considering it’s only
occupied when the setter is in the back row. But they also might just mean,
most reliable hitter.


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Ace may depend on country, but from what I gathered, it's actually the outside
hitter that is the ace; meaning the position that is on the left-hand side.

I used to play volleyball and I know in America we don't use that term, but we
do rely heavily on our outside hitter to get us out of a bind since they’re
supposed to be the best well-rounded player as well as the best hitter.
Americans don't have a term for it, but it's possible that the Japanese use it
to encourage within the team.


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