# Volleyball at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The 2000 women's Olympic volleyball tournament was the tenth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee. It was held from 16 to 30 September 2000 in the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Darling Harbour.

## Qualification

| Qualifiers | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host Country | 24 September 1993 | Monte Carlo | 1 | Australia |
| 1999 Women's World Cup | 2–16 November 1999 | Japan | 3 | Cuba |
| 1999 Women's World Cup | 2–16 November 1999 | Japan | 3 | Russia |
| 1999 Women's World Cup | 2–16 November 1999 | Japan | 3 | Brazil |
| European Qualification | 4–9 January 2000 | Bremen | 1 | Germany |
| North American Qualification | 5–8 January 2000 | Lakeland | 1 | United States |
| South American Qualification | 4–6 January 2000 | Lima | 1 | Peru |
| African Qualification | 16–20 January 2000 | Nairobi | 1 | Kenya |
| Asian Qualification | 17–25 June 2000 | Tokyo | 1 | South Korea |
| 2000 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 17–25 June 2000 | Tokyo | 3 | Italy |
| 2000 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 17–25 June 2000 | Tokyo | 3 | Croatia |
| 2000 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 17–25 June 2000 | Tokyo | 3 | China |
| Total | Total | Total | 12 | |

## Format

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 and 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 2000.
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 |
| Australia (Hosts) | Cuba (1) |
| Brazil (3) | Russia (2) |
| China (4) | South Korea (5) |
| United States (9) | Italy (8) |
| Croatia (10) | Germany (11) |
| Kenya (15) | Peru (12) |

## Venues

* Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
* Sydney Showground Pavilion 4, Sydney, Australia

## Preliminary round

* All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00).
* venues: Sydney Showground Pavilion 4 (matches starting at 12:00 or earlier) and Sydney Entertainment Centre (matches starting at 12:30 or later).

### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 15.000 | 395 | 272 | 1.452 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | United States | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 3.250 | 392 | 306 | 1.281 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 1.000 | 411 | 389 | 1.057 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | China | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0.889 | 371 | 365 | 1.016 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Australia | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 0.308 | 303 | 408 | 0.743 | |
| 6 | Kenya | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 0.133 | 280 | 412 | 0.680 | |

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Russia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 3.000 | 465 | 392 | 1.186 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Cuba | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 3.500 | 419 | 332 | 1.262 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | South Korea | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 1.000 | 393 | 413 | 0.952 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Germany | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 0.800 | 380 | 395 | 0.962 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Italy | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 0.583 | 427 | 446 | 0.957 | |
| 6 | Peru | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 0.133 | 316 | 422 | 0.749 | |

## Final round

* All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10:00).
* venues: Sydney Entertainment Centre (except for 5th–8th places semifinals, which were played at Sydney Showground Pavilion 4).
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 26 September | 26 September | | | |
| Brazil | 3 | | | |
| Brazil | 3 | 28 September | 28 September | | |
| Germany | 0 | 28 September | 28 September | |
| Germany | 0 | Brazil | 2 | |
| 26 September | 26 September | | Brazil | 2 | |
| 26 September | 26 September | Cuba | 3 | |
| Croatia | 0 | Cuba | 3 | |
| Croatia | 0 | | | | 30 September | 30 September |
| Cuba | 3 | | | | 30 September | 30 September |
| Cuba | 3 | | | | Cuba | 3 |
| 26 September | 26 September | | | | | Cuba | 3 |
| 26 September | 26 September | | | | Russia | 2 |
| United States | 3 | | | | Russia | 2 |
| United States | 3 | 28 September | 28 September | | | |
| South Korea | 2 | 28 September | 28 September | | | |
| South Korea | 2 | United States | 2 | | | |
| 26 September | 26 September | | United States | 2 | | | |
| 26 September | 26 September | Russia | 3 | | Third place | Third place |
| China | 0 | Russia | 3 | | Third place | Third place |
| China | 0 | | | | 30 September | 30 September |
| Russia | 3 | | | | 30 September | 30 September |
| Russia | 3 | | | | Brazil | 3 |
| | | | | | United States | 0 |
| 5–8th place | 5–8th place | 5th place | 5th place |
| 27 September | 27 September |
| Germany | 3 |
| Germany | 3 | 28 September | 28 September |
| Croatia | 1 | 28 September | 28 September |
| Croatia | 1 | Germany | 1 |
| 27 September | 27 September | | Germany | 1 |
| 27 September | 27 September | China | 3 |
| South Korea | 1 | China | 3 |
| China | 3 | | |
| China | 3 | 7th place | 7th place |
| | | 28 September | 28 September |
| | | Croatia | 3 |
| | | South Korea | 1 |

### 1st–4th places
#### Semifinals
#### Gold medal match
## Final standings

| Place | Team |
| | Cuba |
| | Russia |
| | Brazil |
| 4 | United States |
| 5 | China |
| 6 | Germany |
| 7 | Croatia |
| 8 | South Korea |
| 9 | Australia |
| 9 | Italy |
| 11 | Kenya |
| 11 | Peru |
* 2000 Women's Olympic champions
* Cuba 3rd title
* 12-woman roster
* Yumilka Ruiz, Marlenis Costa, Mireya Luis, Lilia Izquierdo, Idalmis Gato, Regla Bell, Regla Torres, Taismary Agüero, Ana Fernández, Mirka Francia, Marta Sánchez, Zoila Barros
* Head coach
* Luis Calderon

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Cuba (CUB)Yumilka Ruiz Marlenis Costa Mireya Luis Lilia Izquierdo Idalmis Gato Regla Bell Regla Torres Taismary Agüero Ana Fernández Mirka Francia Marta Sánchez Zoila Barros Head coach: Luis Calderon | Russia (RUS)Olga Potachova Natalya Morozova Anastasia Belikova Yelena Tyurina (L) Lyubov Shashkova Yelena Godina Yevgeniya Artamonova Elizaveta Tishchenko Yelena Vasilevskaya Yekaterina Gamova Tatyana Gracheva Inessa Sargsyan Head coach: Nikolay Karpol | Brazil (BRA)Elisângela Oliveira Janina Conceição Raquel Silva Ricarda Lima (L) Hélia Souza Leila Barros Walewska Oliveira Virna Dias Karin Rodrigues Kelly Fraga Érika Coimbra Kátia Lopes Head coach: Bernardo Rezende |

## Individual awards

* Most valuable player
    Regla Torres (CUB)
* Best scorer
    Barbara Jelic (CRO)
* Best spiker
    Regla Torres (CUB)
* Best blocker
    Danielle Scott (USA)
* Best server
    Elena Godina (RUS)
* Best digger
    Ricarda Lima (BRA)
* Best setter
    Hélia Souza (BRA)
* Best receiver
    Koo Ki-Lan (KOR)