Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Means of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host Country	13 July 2001	Moscow	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.

Teams were seeded following the Serpentine system according to their ranking as of January 2008.[2]

Twelve qualified nations were drawn into two groups, each consisting of six teams. After a robin-round, the four highest-placed teams in each group advanced to a knock-out round to decide the medals.

Group A	Group B
China (Hosts)	Brazil (1)
Cuba (3)	Italy (2)
United States (4)	Russia (5)
Japan (8)	Serbia (7)
Poland (9)	Kazakhstan (16)
Venezuela (29)	Algeria (21)

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 Referees: Kim Kun-Tae (South Korea), Janpen Jirakakul (Thailand)
	(25–21, 17–25, 20–25, 17–25) result statistics

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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 Referees: Frank Leuthauser (Germany), Karin Zahorcova (Czech Republic)
	(25–20, 17–25, 25–16, 25–23) result statistics

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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.[3] 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).[3] 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
					Brazil	3			Bronze medal match
	Japan	0
	Brazil	3
									Cuba	1
									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 Referees: Ibrahim al-Naama (Qatar), Kim Kun-Tae (South Korea)
	(26–24, 25–19, 26–24) result statistics

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

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

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

Semifinals

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

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

Bronze medal match

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

Gold medal match

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

• FIVB official page
• Beijing 2008 at FIVB
• Official results (pgs. 2273–2334)