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Haikyuu has many notable high school volleyball teams, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. While certain objective rankings can be tricky due to some matchups, the cream will usually rise to the crop even during difficult times.
It is worth noting that the series does technically feature teams past high school (such as the Japan Men's National Volleyball Team). However, the anime has only focused on the high school aspects of it thus far by season four, so it makes more sense to discuss content that viewers have seen (aka the 2012-2013 team).
Note: This article will only cover male high school volleyball teams based on what's known in the manga, considering that the female teams seldom get any screentime for this sort of discussion.
The eight best high school volleyball teams in Haikyuu
8) Inarizaki
Although Inarizaki did lose to Karasuno early on in the 2013 Spring Tournament, it was ultimately a close match that showcased how good this team was in Haikyuu. They have canonly attended this tournament for three consecutive years and are known for being a regularly good team. This team was even in the finals last year (before losing to Itachiyama Institute).
Compared to other high school volleyball teams, Inarizaki is one of the more popular ones in-universe. Most fans would remember the Miya twins and Aran Ojiro, one of the nation's top five aces.
7) Nekoma
Karasuno's "destined rival" in Haikyuu is arguably one of the better high school volleyball teams out there. It usually gets the opportunity to play against other good to great teams, such as Fukurōdani Academy, in the summer training camps, leading to them usually having good matches with other competitive teams.
They would end up defeating the respectable Sarukawa Tech High in the 2013 Spring Tournament before ultimately losing to Karasuno High. They used to beat Karasuno regularly, but those days are finally over in Haikyuu.
6) Itachiyama
This high school volleyball team has one of three aces in Haikyuu, as well as some other impressive players. Their setter (Tsukasa Iizuna) and libero (Motoya Komori) are also described as among the best in the entire series. Naturally, they are one of the best teams in all of Haikyuu.
However, their fairly low ranking is because of their disappointing loss to Inubushi Higashi High. They beat some of the higher-ranked teams before, but not at the 2013 Spring Tournament, which is when it mattered the most. If they didn't choke, they would definitely be higher here.
5) Inubushi Higashi
It's worth noting that although Inubushi Higashi ranked higher than Karasuno in the 2013 Spring Tournament, it's hard to determine if they're actually a better team or not. The only known team that they beat was Itachiyama, which is impressive, but nothing substantial is detailed about the actual squad in the manga.
Keep in mind that Itachiyama's Iizuna got a foot injury, which could be seen as a major factor for their loss. Nonetheless, there is no excuse; Inubushio Higashi made an upset over Itachiyama.
4) Karasuno
By the end of season four, Haikyuu viewers have seen Karasuno advancing to the third round of the Spring Tournament. In the manga, they would beat Nekoma High in the third round before losing to Kanomedai High in the quarter-finals. It's a disappointing end for the fan-favorite team, but it's still extremely impressive for a team that would have historically struggled for a few years prior to this current team.
Fans of Haikyuu should already remember some of the team's great players, considering that the main protagonist, Shōyō Hinata, is on that team. They get the most screentime in the series, with some players moving on with their life after this tournament, while others become legendary volleyball players.
3) Kamomedai
Kamomedai is one of two teams to lose in the semi-finals of the 2013 Spring Tournament, with their biggest achievement being the team that beat Karasuno High. Most of the players on this team have a name, which is important since the team they lost to, Ichibayashi, didn't have any named teammates.
An example of a named teammate is Kōrai Hoshiumi, the ace of that team and the main one that gets screentime in the group. This high school volleyball team was known for being mentally strong, meaning that they don't become weak based on one bad play.
2) Fukurōdani
Second place in the 2013 Spring Tournament clearly shows that Fukurōdani Academy is far beyond most of their competitors. Not only that but their ace, Bokuto, is described as one of the top five aces in all of Japan.
This team managed to beat another top four team (Mujinazaka High) and has regularly beaten other good teams before the Spring Tournament (like Karsuno High).
Unfortunately for them, they lost to the next team on this list, which means that they are canonly worse than them when it comes to this type of ranking. Still, second place is as good as they come.
1) Ichibayashi
It might be a little anti-climatic to feature a high school volleyball team that barely gets any screentime in the manga as number one, but they did win the whole 2013 Spring Tournament. They beat other good teams, such as:
- Fukurōdani Academy
- Kamomedai (who beat Karasuno)
Most of their matchups weren't really known aside from fighting Shiritsu Sakae High before the two aforementioned bouts. Not even the teammates have names in the Haikyuu manga, but there is no denying that they got to the top when it mattered.
Why they didn't get much focus for being so dominant is as good as anybody's guess.
Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.
