# Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The inaugural Women's Volleyball Tournament in the Summer Olympic Games was held during Olympic Games of Tokyo, from October 11 to October 23, 1964. Japan won the gold medal, with the Soviet Union and Poland taking silver and bronze, respectively.

## Qualification

| Means of qualification | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host Country | 26 May 1959 | Munich | 1 | Japan |
| 1962 World Championship | 13-25 October 1962 | Soviet Union | 2 | Soviet Union |
| 1962 World Championship | 13-25 October 1962 | Soviet Union | 2 | Poland |
| 1963 European Championship | 22 October-2 November 1963 | Romania | 1 | Romania |
| Asian Qualifier | 22-30 December 1963 | New Delhi | 1 | North Korea *  South Korea |
| 1963 Pan American Games | 21 April – 3 May 1963 | São Paulo | 1 | Brazil United States |
| Total | Total | Total | 6 | |
*North Korea did not send its delegation to Tokyo because it does not have bilateral relations with Japan.Their spot was given to South Korea.

## Format

The tournament was played in a single round-robin format, all teams were placed into a single pool and faced each other once.

## Venues

* Komazawa Volleyball Courts in Tokyo
* Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama

## Round robin

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR |
| 1 | Japan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 15.000 | 238 | 93 | 2.559 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 4.000 | 212 | 97 | 2.186 |
| 3 | Poland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1.667 | 180 | 162 | 1.111 |
| 4 | Romania | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 0.667 | 140 | 172 | 0.814 |
| 5 | United States | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 0.250 | 98 | 213 | 0.460 |
| 6 | South Korea | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0.000 | 94 | 225 | 0.418 |
* All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).
| Date | Time | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Total | Report |
| 11 Oct | 13:15 | Romania | 0–3 | Soviet Union | 5–15 | 6–15 | 0–15 | | 11–45 | Report |
| 11 Oct | 15:15 | United States | 0–3 | Japan | 1–15 | 5–15 | 2–15 | | 8–45 | Report |
| 12 Oct | 15:15 | South Korea | 0–3 | Soviet Union | 0–15 | 6–15 | 0–15 | | 6–45 | Report |
| 12 Oct | 17:15 | United States | 0–3 | Poland | 3–15 | 4–15 | 10–15 | | 17–45 | Report |
| 12 Oct | 19:15 | Romania | 0–3 | Japan | 7–15 | 3–15 | 8–15 | | 18–45 | Report |
| 13 Oct | 17:15 | Romania | 3–0 | United States | 15–9 | 15–1 | 15–2 | | 45–12 | Report |
| 14 Oct | 15:15 | South Korea | 0–3 | Poland | 5–15 | 5–15 | 11–15 | | 21–45 | Report |
| 14 Oct | 20:30 | South Korea | 0–3 | Japan | 3–15 | 2–15 | 4–15 | | 9–45 | Report |
| 15 Oct | 14:00 | Poland | 0–3 | Soviet Union | 9–15 | 5–15 | 5–15 | | 19–45 | Report |
| 17 Oct | 13:15 | Soviet Union | 3–0 | United States | 15–1 | 15–8 | 15–7 | | 45–16 | Report |
| 18 Oct | 13:50 | Poland | 1–3 | Japan | 4–15 | 5–15 | 15–13 | 2–15 | 26–58 | Report |
| 19 Oct | 17:15 | Romania | 3–0 | South Korea | 15–10 | 15–9 | 15–6 | | 45–25 | Report |
| 21 Oct | 11:15 | South Korea | 0–3 | United States | 7–15 | 13–15 | 13–15 | | 33–45 | Report |
| 22 Oct | 19:15 | Romania | 0–3 | Poland | 7–15 | 6–15 | 8–15 | | 21–45 | Report |
| 23 Oct | 19:35 | Japan | 3–0 | Soviet Union | 15–11 | 15–8 | 15–13 | | 45–32 | Report |

## Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | Japan |
| | Soviet Union |
| | Poland |
| 4 | Romania |
| 5 | United States |
| 6 | South Korea |
* 1964 Women's Olympic champions
* Japan 1st title
* 12-woman roster
* Masae Kasai (c), Emiko Miyamoto, Kinuko Tanida, Yuriko Handa, Yoshiko Matsumura, Sata Issobe, Katsumi Matsumura, Yoko Shinozaki, Setsuko Sassaki, Yuko Fujimoto, Massako Kondo, Ayano Shibuki
* Head coach
* Hirofumi Daimatsu

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Japan (JPN)Masae Kasai (c) Emiko Miyamoto Kinuko Tanida Yuriko Handa Yoshiko Matsumura Sata Issobe Katsumi Matsumura Yoko Shinozaki Setsuko Sassaki Yuko Fujimoto Massako Kondo Ayano Shibuki Head coach: Hirofumi Daimatsu | Soviet Union (URS)Nelli Abramova Astra Biltauere Lyudmila Buldakova Lyudmila Gureyeva Valentina Kamenek Marita Katusheva Ninel Lukanina Valentina Mishak Tatyana Roshchina Inna Ryskal Antonina Ryzhova Tamara Tikhonina Head coach: Oleg Chekov | Poland (POL)Krystyna Czajkowska Maria Golimowska Krystyna Jakubowska Danuta Kordaczuk Krystyna Krupa Józefa Ledwig Jadwiga Marko Jadwiga Rutkowska Maria Śliwka Zofia Szczęśniewska Hanna Busz Barbara Hermel Head coach: Benedykt Krysik |

## Gallery

* Sata Isobe spiking ball against Soviet Union National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
* Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the team leader, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
* Yuriko Handa spiking ball against Poland National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball