Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Women's volleyball at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue	Capital Indoor Stadium and Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium
Date	9–23 August
Competitors	144 from 12 nations
Medalists
Brazil  United States  China

Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Indoor
Tournament		men		women
Rosters		men		women
Beach
Tournament		men		women
Rosters		men		women

Competing teams

The women's tournament in volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held at Capital Indoor Stadium and Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium from 9 to 23 August 2008.

The twelve competing teams were split equally into two pools of six teams. Each team played all other teams in their pool with the winning team gaining 2 points and the losing side 1 point. The top four teams from each pool progressed through to the quarterfinals. The rest of the tournament was a single-elimination bracket, with a bronze medal match held between the two semifinal losers.

A total of 38 matches were played: 15 in each group, 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinals, 1 bronze medal match, and 1 gold medal match.

Qualification

Means of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	–	–	1	China
2007 FIVB Women's World Cup	2–16 November 2007	Japan	3	Italy  Brazil  United States
African Olympic Qualification Tournament	22–26 January 2008	Blida	1	Algeria
Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament*	17–25 May 2008	Tokyo	1	Kazakhstan
European Olympic Qualification Tournament	15–20 January 2008	Halle	1	Russia
North American Olympic Qualification Tournament	17–22 December 2007	Monterrey	1	Cuba
South American Olympic Qualification Tournament	3–7 January 2008	Lima	1	Venezuela
World Olympic Qualification Tournament	17–25 May 2008	Tokyo	3	Poland  Serbia  Japan
Total			12

* The Asian Olympic qualification tournament and the World Olympic Qualification Tournament are combined into one event. The top 3 teams at the tournament will qualify as the medallists of the World Olympic Qualification Tournament while the best Asian team outside the top 3 will qualify as the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament champion.

Pools composition

Pool A  China (roster)  Cuba (roster)  Japan (roster)  Poland (roster)  United States (roster)  Venezuela (roster)

Pool B  Algeria (roster)  Brazil (roster)  Italy (roster)  Kazakhstan (roster)  Russia (roster)  Serbia (roster)

Preliminary round

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8).

Pool A

	Qualified for the quarterfinals
	Eliminated

		Pts	Matches		Points			Sets
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Cuba	10	5	0	426	371	1.148	15	3	5.000
2	United States	9	4	1	459	441	1.041	12	9	1.333
3	China	8	3	2	467	395	1.182	13	7	1.857
4	Japan	7	2	3	381	389	0.979	7	11	0.636
5	Poland	6	1	4	441	445	0.991	9	12	0.750
6	Venezuela	5	0	5	262	395	0.663	1	15	0.067

9 August 2008 14:30	Poland	1 – 3	Cuba	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 14,000 Referee(s): Kim Kun-Tae (South Korea), Janpen Jirakakul (Thailand) Report(s): result statistics
	25 17 20 17	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	21 25 25 25

9 August 2008 20:00	Venezuela	0 – 3	China	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee(s): Dejan Jovanovic (Serbia), Patrick Deregnaucourt (France) Report(s): result statistics
	13 13 18	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

9 August 2008 22:00	Japan	1 – 3	United States	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 11,500 Referee(s): Massimo Menghini (Italy), Andrei Zenovich (Russia) Report(s): result statistics
	20 25 19 21	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	25 20 25 25

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11 August 2008 12:35	United States	0 – 3	Cuba	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee(s): Umit Sokullu (Turkey), Dejan Jovanovic (Serbia) Report(s): result statistics
	15 24 17	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 26 25

11 August 2008 20:00	China	3 – 1	Poland	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee(s): Victor Manuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico), Francisco de Souza (Brazil) Report(s): result statistics
	22 25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	25 15 20 22

11 August 2008 22:15	Japan	3 – 0	Venezuela	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee(s): Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic), Frans Loderus (Netherlands) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	12 17 12

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13 August 2008 12:00	Venezuela	1 – 3	United States	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,400 Referee(s): Andrei Zenovich (Russia), Dejan Jovanovic (Serbia) Report(s): result statistics
	17 25 14 18	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	25 20 25 25

13 August 2008 20:00	Cuba	3 – 2	China	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13,000 Referee(s): Frank Leuthauser (Germany), Massimo Menghini (Italy) Report(s): result statistics
	18 14 25 32 15	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5	25 25 23 30 13

13 August 2008 22:30	Poland	2 – 3	Japan	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 5,400 Referee(s): Humberto Salas (Mexico), Francisco de Souza (Brazil) Report(s): result statistics
	21 20 25 25 11	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5	25 25 18 23 15

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15 August 2008 12:30	Venezuela	0 – 3	Poland	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 11,000 Referee(s): Janpen Jirakakul (Thailand), Humberto Salas (Mexico) Report(s): result statistics
	12 12 20	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

15 August 2008 20:00	United States	3 – 2	China	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13,000 Referee(s): Konstantin Tufekchiev (Bulgaria), Umit Sokullu (Turkey) Report(s): result statistics
	23 25 23 25 15	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5	25 22 25 20 11

15 August 2008 22:45	Japan	0 – 3	Cuba	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 5,000 Referee(s): Andrei Zenovich (Russia), Massimo Menghini (Italy) Report(s): result statistics
	17 22 22	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

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17 August 2008 12:00	Cuba	3 – 0	Venezuela	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,500 Referee(s): Andrei Zenovich (Russia), Konstantin Tufekchiev (Bulgaria) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	20 20 19

17 August 2008 12:30	Poland	2 – 3	United States	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 11,000 Referee(s): Ibrahim al-Naama (Qatar), Francisco de Souza (Brazil) Report(s): result statistics
	25 21 25 19 13	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5	18 25 19 25 15

17 August 2008 20:00	China	3 – 0	Japan	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13,000 Referee(s): Kim Kun-Tae (South Korea), Janpen Jirakakul (Thailand) Report(s): result statistics
	26 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	24 16 14

Pool B

	Qualified for the quarterfinals
	Eliminated

		Pts	Matches		Points			Sets
Rank	Team		W	L	W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	Brazil	10	5	0	377	226	1.668	15	0	MAX
2	Italy	9	4	1	372	315	1.181	12	4	3.000
3	Russia	8	3	2	353	312	1.131	10	6	1.667
4	Serbia	7	2	3	343	349	0.983	6	10	0.600
5	Kazakhstan	6	1	4	323	404	0.800	4	13	0.308
6	Algeria	5	0	5	230	392	0.587	1	15	0.067

9 August 2008 10:00	Italy	3 – 1	Russia	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,100 Referee(s): Frank Leuthauser (Germany), Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic) Report(s): result statistics
	25 17 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	20 25 16 23

9 August 2008 12:15	Serbia	3 – 1	Kazakhstan	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 1,800 Referee(s): Mitch Davidson (Canada), Victor Manuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 23 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	21 17 25 21

9 August 2008 12:30	Algeria	0 – 3	Brazil	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee(s): Liu Jiang (China), Ibrahim al-Naama (Qatar) Report(s): result statistics
	11 11 10	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

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11 August 2008 10:00	Algeria	0 – 3	Serbia	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,100 Referee(s): Janpen Jirakakul (Thailand), Liu Jiang (China) Report(s): result statistics
	14 13 13	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

11 August 2008 12:00	Kazakhstan	0 – 3	Italy	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,100 Referee(s): Patricia Salvatore (United States), Humberto Salas (Mexico) Report(s): result statistics
	19 15 21	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

11 August 2008 14:30	Brazil	3 – 0	Russia	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee(s): Osamu Sakaide (Japan), Wang Ning (China) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	14 14 16

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13 August 2008 10:00	Italy	3 – 0	Algeria	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,400 Referee(s): Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic), Janpen Jirakakul (Thailand) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	7 20 12

13 August 2008 12:30	Russia	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee(s): Liu Jiang (China), Patricia Salvatore (United States) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	19 18 11

13 August 2008 14:30	Serbia	0 – 3	Brazil	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 11,000 Referee(s): Kim Kun-Tae (South Korea), Frans Loderus (Netherlands) Report(s): result statistics
	15 13 23	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

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15 August 2008 10:00	Algeria	0 – 3	Russia	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,500 Referee(s): Patricia Salvatore (United States), Osamu Sakaide (Japan) Report(s): result statistics
	11 19 10	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

15 August 2008 12:00	Brazil	3 – 0	Kazakhstan	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,500 Referee(s): Dejan Jovanovic (Serbia), Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 27	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	13 6 25

15 August 2008 14:30	Serbia	0 – 3	Italy	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 11,000 Referee(s): Frans Loderus (Netherlands), Frank Leuthauser (Germany) Report(s): result statistics
	23 20 19	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

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17 August 2008 10:00	Kazakhstan	3 – 1	Algeria	Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Attendance: 3,500 Referee(s): Patricia Salvatore (United States), Massimo Menghini (Italy) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 17 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	18 20 25 16

17 August 2008 15:15	Italy	0 – 3	Brazil	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 10,500 Referee(s): Humberto Salas (Mexico), Mitch Davidson (Canada) Report(s): result statistics
	16 22 17	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

17 August 2008 22:00	Russia	3 – 0	Serbia	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee(s): Osamu Sakaide (Japan), Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic) Report(s): result statistics
	25 25 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	21 16 20

Knockout stage

The first four teams in each Preliminary Round pool advanced to the quarterfinals, eight teams in total. The format was as follows:
A1 vs. B4 (first place in pool A vs. fourth place in pool B)
B1 vs. A4
A drawing of lots determined the pairings among A2/A3 and B2/B3. The purpose of this drawing was to prevent a second-place team in a pool from deliberately losing the last game in pool play in order to select an "easier" opponent (in the sense of matchups) in the quarterfinals.

Based on a drawing of lots after the group stage, the United States faced and defeated Italy, while China drew and won against Russia in their quarterfinal matches.^[1] The other quarterfinal match-ups were determined by the pool standings. Brazil (pool B winner) played Japan (pool A 4th place). Cuba (pool A winner) played play Serbia (pool B 4th place).^[1] Both top seeds went on to defeat their opponents 3–0, thus reaching the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Brazil defeated the host nation and defending champion China, while the United States defeated Cuba. Both semifinal matches were won 3–0.

In the final, Brazil, for the first time in the tournament, lost a set but was able to win the next two sets from the United States to claim the match and the gold medal. In the third-place match, China defeated Cuba for the bronze medal.

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Gold medal match
	Cuba	3
	Serbia	0
					Cuba	0
					United States	3
	United States	3
	Italy	2
									United States	1
									Brazil	3
	China	3
	Russia	0
					China	0			Bronze medal match
					Brazil	3
	Japan	0
									Cuba	1
	Brazil	3
									China	3

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+08:00).

Quarterfinals

19 August 2008 10:00	Cuba	3 – 0	Serbia	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,500 Referee(s): Ibrahim al-Naama (Qatar), Kim Kun-Tae (South Korea) Report(s): result statistics
	26 25 26	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	24 19 24

19 August 2008 12:00	Japan	0 – 3	Brazil	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,500 Referee(s): Konstantin Tufekchiev (Bulgaria), Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic) Report(s): result statistics
	12 20 16	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

19 August 2008 20:00	China	3 – 0	Russia	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13,000 Referee(s): Humberto Salas (Mexico), Victor Manuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico) Report(s): result statistics
	25 27 25	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	22 25 19

19 August 2008 22:00	United States	3 – 2	Italy	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee(s): Francisco de Souza (Brazil), Osamu Sakaide (Japan) Report(s): result statistics
	20 25 19 25 15	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Set 5	25 21 25 18 6

Semifinals

21 August 2008 12:35	Cuba	0 – 3	United States	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13,000 Referee(s): Frans Loderus (Netherlands), Dejan Jovanovic (Serbia) Report(s): result statistics
	20 16 17	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	25 25 25

21 August 2008 20:00	China	0 – 3	Brazil	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13,000 Referee(s): Frank Leuthauser (Germany), Andrei Zenovich (Russia) Report(s): result statistics
	25 22 14	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3	27 25 25

Bronze medal match

23 August 2008 12:30	Cuba	1 – 3	China	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 12,500 Referee(s): Andrei Zenovich (Russia), Konstantin Tufekchiev (Bulgaria) Report(s): result statistics
	16 25 13 20	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	25 21 25 25

Gold medal match

23 August 2008 20:00	United States	1 – 3	Brazil	Capital Indoor Stadium Attendance: 13.000 Referee(s): Massimo Menghini (Italy), Umit Sokullu (Turkey) Report(s): result statistics
	15 25 13 21	Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4	25 18 25 25

Award ceremony

• 21:50, 23 August 2008

Final standings

Place Team  Brazil  United States  China 4.  Cuba 5.  Serbia  Italy  Russia  Japan 9.  Poland  Kazakhstan 11.  Venezuela  Algeria

2008 Women's Olympic Champions  Brazil First title

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Brazil (BRA) Walewska Oliveira Carolina Albuquerque Marianne Steinbrecher Paula Pequeno Thaisa Menezes Hélia Souza Valeska Menezes Fabiana Claudino Welissa Gonzaga Jaqueline Carvalho Sheilla Castro Fabiana de Oliveira	United States (USA) Ogonna Nnamani Danielle Scott-Arruda Tayyiba Haneef-Park Lindsey Berg Stacy Sykora Nicole Davis Heather Bown Jennifer Joines Kim Glass Robyn Ah Mow-Santos Kim Willoughby Logan Tom	China (CHN) Wang Yimei Feng Kun Yang Hao Liu Yanan Wei Qiuyue Xu Yunli Zhou Suhong Zhao Ruirui Xue Ming Li Juan Zhang Na Ma Yunwen

Individual awards

Most Valuable Player  Paula Pequeno (BRA) Best Scorer  Logan Tom (USA) Best Spiker  Rosir Calderón (CUB) Best Blocker  Erika Araki (JPN) Best Server  Yanelis Santos (CUB)

Best Digger  Zhang Na (CHN) Best Setter  Hélia Souza (BRA) Best Receiver  Zhou Suhong (CHN) Best Libero  Fabiana de Oliveira (BRA)

References

External links

• FIVB official page