Volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

This article is about the indoor tournament. For the beach tournament, see Beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament.

The 1996 women's Olympic volleyball tournament was the ninth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee. It was held from 20 July to 3 August 1996 at the Stegeman Coliseum of The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia and at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] 12 teams competed, up from eight in 1992.

Women's volleyball at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Venue	University of Georgia Coliseum Omni Coliseum
Date	20 July – 3 August
Competitors	144 from 12 nations
Medalists
Cuba (2nd title)  China  Brazil
← 1992 2000 →

Qualification

Qualifiers	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host Country	18 September 1990	Tokyo	1	United States
1995 Women's World Cup	3–17 November 1995	Japan	3	Cuba
				Brazil
				China
European Qualification			1	Germany
North American Qualification			1	Canada
South American Qualification			1	Peru
Asian Qualification			1	South Korea
African Qualification [2]			1	Russia
1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament	26 May −2 June 1996	Tokyo, Japan	3	Netherlands
				Japan
				Ukraine
Total			12

Format

In 1991, the International Olympic Committee alongside the FIVB decided to increase the number of countries participating in the women's volleyball tournament at the Summer Olympic Games from 8 to 12 and thus equalize the number of athletes in the two tournaments.As the men's event, the tournament was played in two different stages. In the Preliminary round (first stage), the twelve participants were divided into two pools of six teams. A single round-robin format was played within each pool to determine the teams position in the pool. The four highest ranked teams in each pool advanced to the Final round (second stage) and the two lowest ranked teams took no further participation (with pool places 5th and 6th being ranked in the final standings as joined 9th ad 11th, respectively).

The Final round was played in a single elimination format, with placement matches determining the top eight positions. Starting at the quarterfinals, winners advanced to the semifinals while losers advanced to the placement matches (5th–8th semifinal).

Pools composition

Teams were seeded following the Serpentine system according to their ranking as of January 1996.^[3]

Pool A	Pool B
United States (hosts)	Cuba (1st)
Japan (4th)	Brazil (2nd)
China (5th)	Russia (7th)
South Korea (6th)	Germany (8th)
Netherlands	Peru
Ukraine	Canada

Rosters

Main article: Volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's team rosters

Venues

• University of Georgia Coliseum, Athens, United States
• Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, United States

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	China	5	5	0	10	15	3	5.000	256	181	1.414	Quarterfinals
2	United States	5	4	1	9	13	5	2.600	241	198	1.217
3	Netherlands	5	3	2	8	10	7	1.429	211	179	1.179
4	South Korea	5	2	3	7	10	9	1.111	249	222	1.122
5	Japan	5	1	4	6	3	12	0.250	158	199	0.794
6	Ukraine	5	0	5	5	0	15	0.000	89	225	0.396

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

20 July 1996	Netherlands	0–3	China
	(10–15 ,5–15, 7–15) Report

20 July 1996	Japan	0–3	South Korea
	(10–15, 12–15, 10–15) Report

20 July 1996	United States	3–0	Ukraine
	(15–8, 15–5, 15–11) Report

---

22 July 1996	China	3–2	South Korea
	(17–16, 16–14, 2–15, 13–15, 15–13) Report

22 July 1996	Ukraine	0–3	Japan
	(9–15, 5–15, 4–15) Report

22 July 1996	Netherlands	1–3	United States
	(15–12, 10–15, 15–17, 7–15) Report

---

24 July 1996	Japan	0–3	Netherlands
	(3–15, 10–15, 3–15) Report

24 July 1996	United States	1–3	China
	(8–15, 2–15, 15–12, 12–15) Report

24 July 1996	South Korea	3–0	Ukraine
	(15–3, 15–10, 15–7) Report

---

26 July 1996	Netherlands	3–1	South Korea
	(15–11, 15–12, 7–15, 15–8) Report

26 July 1996	China	3–0	Ukraine
	(15–4, 15–4, 15–6) Report

26 July 1996	United States	3–0	Japan
	(15–11 ,15–7, 15–12) Report

---

28 July 1996	Japan	0–3	China
	(14–16, 11–15, 10–15) Report

28 July 1996	South Korea	1–3	United States
	(15–10, 13–15, 9–15, 3–15) Report

28 July 1996	Ukraine	0–3	Netherlands
	(3–15, 5–15, 5–15) Report

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Brazil	5	5	0	10	15	1	15.000	238	121	1.967	Quarterfinals
2	Russia	5	4	1	9	12	4	3.000	217	140	1.550
3	Cuba	5	3	2	8	10	6	1.667	196	156	1.256
4	Germany	5	2	3	7	7	9	0.778	163	191	0.853
5	Canada	5	1	4	6	3	14	0.214	156	239	0.653
6	Peru	5	0	5	5	2	15	0.133	129	252	0.512

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

20 July 1996	Russia	3–0	Germany
	(15–5 ,15–10, 15–7) Report

20 July 1996	Canada	0–3	Cuba
	(8–15, 8–15, 5–15) Report

20 July 1996	Brazil	3–0	Peru
	(15–7, 15–1, 15–5) Report

---

22 July 1996	Russia	3–0	Canada
	(15–1, 15–7, 15–9) Report

22 July 1996	Germany	3–0	Peru
	(15–11, 15–6, 15–3) Report

22 July 1996	Cuba	0–3	Brazil
	(11–15, 10–15, 4–15) Report

---

24 July 1996	Canada	0–3	Germany
	(5–15, 12–15, 6–15) Report

24 July 1996	Brazil	3–0	Russia
	(15–3, 15–11, 15–13) Report

24 July 1996	Peru	0–3	Cuba
	(2–15, 5–15, 10–15) Report

---

26 July 1996	Russia	3–0	Peru
	(15–11, 15–8, 15–1) Report

26 July 1996	Germany	0–3	Cuba
	(6–15, 8–15, 4–15) Report

26 July 1996	Canada	0–3	Brazil
	(6–15, 6–15, 11–15) Report

---

28 July 1996	Brazil	3–1	Germany
	(15–4, 13–15, 15–6, 15–8) Report

28 July 1996	Cuba	1–3	Russia
	(15–10, 6–15, 7–15, 8–15) Report

28 July 1996	Peru	2–3	Canada
	(17–16, 6–15, 15–11, 9–15, 12–15) Report

Final round

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	30 July
	China	3
					1 August
	Germany	0
					China	3
	30 July
					Russia	1
	Netherlands	1
									3 August
	Russia	3
									China	1
	30 July
									Cuba	3
	United States	0
					1 August
	Cuba	3
					Cuba	3
	30 July
					Brazil	2			Third place
	South Korea	0
									3 August
	Brazil	3
									Russia	2
									Brazil	3

	5–8th place				5th place
	31 July
	Germany	2
					1 August
	Netherlands	3
					Netherlands	3
	31 July
					South Korea	0
	United States	0
	South Korea	3
					7th place
					1 August
					Germany	1
					United States	3

Quarterfinals

30 July 1996	China	3–0	Germany
	(15–12 ,15–8 ,15–8) Report

30 July 1996	Netherlands	1–3	Russia
	(15–10, 7–15, 9–15, 10–15) Report

30 July 1996	United States	0–3	Cuba
	(1–15, 10–15, 12–15) Report

30 July 1996	South Korea	0–3	Brazil
	(4–15, 2–15, 10–15) Report

5th–8th places

Semifinals

31 July 1996	Germany	2–3	Netherlands
	(12–15, 15–9, 15–13, 9–15, 10–15) Report

31 July 1996	United States	0–3	South Korea
	(12–15, 5–15, 11–15) Report

7th place match

1 August 1996	Germany	1–3	United States
	(16–17, 6–15, 15–5, 6–15) Report

5th place match

1 August 1996	Netherlands	3–0	South Korea
	(15–9 ,15–9, 15–13) Report

1st–4th places

Semifinals

1 August 1996	China	3–1	Russia
	(12–15, 15–5, 15–8, 15–12) Report

1 August 1996	Cuba	3–2	Brazil
	(5–15, 15–8, 10–15, 15–13, 15–12) Report

Bronze medal match

3 August 1996	Russia	2–3	Brazil
	(13–15, 15–4, 14–16, 15–8, 13–15) Report

Gold medal match

3 August 1996	China	1–3	Cuba
	(16–14, 12–15, 16–17, 6–15) Report

Final standings

Place[4] Team  Cuba  China  Brazil 4  Russia 5  Netherlands 6  South Korea 7  United States 8  Germany 9  Canada  Japan 11  Peru  Ukraine

1996 Women's Olympic champions  Cuba 2nd title 12-woman roster Yumilka Ruiz, Marlenis Costa, Mireya Luis, Lilia Izquierdo, Idalmis Gato, Raisa O'Farril, Regla Bell, Regla Torres, Taismary Agüero, Ana Fernández, Magalys Carvajal, Mirka Francia Head coach Eugenio George

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Cuba (CUB) Yumilka Ruiz Marlenis Costa Mireya Luis Lilia Izquierdo Idalmis Gato Raisa O'Farril Regla Bell Regla Torres Taismary Agüero Ana Fernández Magalys Carvajal Mirka Francia Head coach: Eugenio George	China (CHN) Lai Yawen (c) Li Yan Cui Yongmei Zhu Yunying Wu Yongmei Wang Yi He Qi Pan Wenli Liu Xiaoning Wang Ziling Sun Yue Wang Lina Head coach: Lang Ping	Brazil (BRA) Ana Moser Ana Ida Alvares Ana Paula Connelly Leila Barros Hilma Caldeira Virna Dias Márcia Cunha Ericleia Bodziak Ana Flávia Sanglard Fernanda Venturini Hélia Souza Sandra Suruagy Head coach: Bernardinho

Individual awards

• Most valuable player

   Cintha Boersma (NED)

• Best spiker

   Cui Yongmei (CHN)

• Best blocker

   Magaly Carvajal (CUB)

• Best server

   Henriëtte Weersing (NED)

• Best digger

   Ikumi Narita (JPN)

• Best setter

   Riëtte Fledderus (NED)

• Best receiver

   Lai Yawen (CHN)

Statistics Leaders

Best scorers

Rank	Name	Total Points	Spike	Block	Serve
1	Artamonova, Evguenia	191	168	14	9
2	Sun Yue	171	155	12	4
3	Li Yan	170	142	23	5
4	Cross-Battle, Tara	162	150	8	4
5	Luis, Mireya	160	143	7	6
6	Carvajal, Magalys	150	120	25	5
7	Cunha, Marcia Fu	139	118	17	4
8	Moser, Ana	137	113	15	9
9	Chung, Sun-Hye	134	116	14	4
10	Weersing, Henriette	131	115	11	5

Best attackers

Rank	Name	Total kills	Total Attempts	Efficiency%
1	CUI, Yong Mei	84	223	37.71%
2	ARTAMONOVA, Evguenia	168	459	36.57%
3	CUNHA, Marcia Fu	118	341	34.59%
4	SUN, Yue	155	458	33.81%
5	RODRIGUEZ, Ana Paula	95	292	33.57%

Best blockers

Rank	Name	Total blocks	Sets Played	Avg per set
1	CARVAJAL, Magalys	25	16	1.31
2	RODRIGUEZ, Ana Paula	22	15	1.15
3	LI, Yan	23	21	1.09
4	VON SASS, Katrina	17	14	1.02
5	LAI, Yawen	21	21	1.00

Best servers

Rank	Name	Total aces	Sets Played	Avg per set
1	MOSER, Ana	9	18	0.47
2	ARTAMONOVA, Evguenia	9	20	0.45
3	VISSER, Ingrid	8	20	0.39
4	SOUCY, Brigittie	6	17	0.35
5	OBAYASHI, Motoko	5	15	0.33

Best diggers

Rank	Name	Total digs	Attempts	Avg per set
1	NARITA, Ikumi	78	199	2.47
2	LAI, Yawen	72	208	2.31
3	BATUKHTINA, Elena	64	188	2.11
4	LUIS, Mireya	59	193	1,98
5	CUNHA, Marcia Fu	54	177	1.79

Best setters

Rank	Name	Running Sets	Attempts	Avg per set
1	VENTURINI, Fernanda	306	704	14.54
2	FLEDDERUS, Riette	279	651	11.08
3	NIKULINA, Marina	221	621	9.97
4	ZETTURLAND, Yoko	201	509	8.77
5	HE, Qi	196	603	7.45
6	COSTA, Marleny	176	407	6.74
7	NAGATOMI, Aki	144	563	5.51
8	PIANKA, Ines	121	583	4.13
9	O’FARILL, Raisa	98	332	3.87
10	SHIN, Young-Choul	96	521	3.11

Best receivers

Rank	Name	Excellent	Succ%
1	LAI, Yawen	179	77.45
2	BATUKHTINA, Elena	146	74.29
3	DIAS, Virna	135	70.54
4	YOSHIHARA, Tomoko	128	69.23
5	WANG Yi	119	67.49

Dream Team

• SETTER

   Fernanda Venturini (BRA)

• Outside Hitters

   Evguenia Artamonova (RUS)

   Sun Yue (CHN)

• MIDDLE BLOCKERS

   Magalys Carvajal (CUB)

   Ana Paula Connelly (BRA)

• OPPOSITE SPIKER

   Marcia Fu Cunha (BRA)