# Volleyball at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The 1988 women's Olympic volleyball tournament was the seventh edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee. The competition in Seoul, South Korea was held from 20 to 29 September 1988.

## Qualification

| Qualifiers | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host Country | 30 September 1981 | Baden-Baden | 1 | South Korea |
| 1984 Olympic Games | 30 Jul – 7 Aug 1984 | Los Angeles | 1 | China |
| 1986 World Championship | 2–13 September 1986 | Prague | 1 | Cuba  Peru |
| 1987 Asian Championsnip | 6–14 June 1987 | Shanghai | 1 | Japan* |
| 1987 NORCECA Championship | 12-19 June 1987 | Havana | 1 | United States* |
| 1987 South American Championship | 20-29 September 1987 | Punta del Este | 1 | Brazil |
| 1987 European Championship | 25 Sep – 3 Oct 1987 | Auderghem | 1 | East Germany |
| 1988 Olympic qualification tournament | | Italy | 1 | Soviet Union |
| Total | Total | Total | 8 | |
* Notes:
    1. Cuba was the 1986 World Championship runners-up (champions China had already qualified as 1984 Olympic champions), but together with 6 another countries, boycotted the games and their spot was given to Peru, as the team finished in the 3rd place at the 1986 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.
    2. Peru won the 1987 Women's South American Volleyball Championship, but as they had already qualified, the South American place was reassigned to Brazil.
    3. Japan was the 1987 Asian Championship runners-up (champions China had already qualified as 1984 Olympic champions).
    4. United States was the 1987 NORCECA Championship runners-up (champions Cuba had already qualified as 1986 World Championship runners-up).

## Format

The tournament was played in two different stages. In the Preliminary round (first stage), the eight participants were divided into two pools of four teams. A single round-robin format was played within each pool to determine the teams position in the pool. The Final round (second stage) was played in a single elimination format, where the preliminary round two highest ranked teams in each group advanced to the semifinals and the two lowest ranked teams advanced to the 5th–8th place semifinals.

## Pools composition

| Pool A | Pool B |
| East Germany | Brazil |
| Japan | China |
| South Korea | Peru |
| Soviet Union | United States |

## Venues

* Jamsil Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea
* Saemaul Sports Hall, Seoul, South Korea
* Hanyang University Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2.667 | 154 | 114 | 1.351 | 1st–4th semifinals |
| 2 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 1.333 | 173 | 159 | 1.088 | 1st–4th semifinals |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 0.571 | 116 | 137 | 0.847 | 5th–8th semifinals |
| 4 | East Germany | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0.500 | 127 | 160 | 0.794 | 5th–8th semifinals |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Peru | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 2.250 | 177 | 142 | 1.246 | 1st–4th semifinals |
| 2 | China | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2.000 | 161 | 132 | 1.220 | 1st–4th semifinals |
| 3 | United States | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 0.625 | 140 | 167 | 0.838 | 5th–8th semifinals |
| 4 | Brazil | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 0.333 | 126 | 163 | 0.773 | 5th–8th semifinals |

## Final round
### 5th to 8th place

| 5–8th place | 5–8th place | 5th place | 5th place |
| 27 September | 27 September |
| South Korea | 2 |
| South Korea | 2 | 29 September | 29 September |
| Brazil | 3 | 29 September | 29 September |
| Brazil | 3 | Brazil | 1 |
| 27 September | 27 September | | Brazil | 1 |
| 27 September | 27 September | East Germany | 3 |
| East Germany | 3 | East Germany | 3 |
| United States | 1 | | |
| United States | 1 | 7th place | 7th place |
| | | 29 September | 29 September |
| | | South Korea | 2 |
| | | United States | 3 |

#### 5th place match
### Final

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 27 September | 27 September |
| Soviet Union | 3 |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 29 September | 29 September |
| China | 0 | 29 September | 29 September |
| China | 0 | Soviet Union | 3 |
| 27 September | 27 September | | Soviet Union | 3 |
| 27 September | 27 September | Peru | 2 |
| Japan | 2 | Peru | 2 |
| Peru | 3 | | |
| Peru | 3 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 29 September | 29 September |
| | | China | 3 |
| | | Japan | 0 |

#### Gold medal match
## Final standings

| Place | Team |
| | Soviet Union |
| | Peru |
| | China |
| 4 | Japan |
| 5 | East Germany |
| 6 | Brazil |
| 7 | United States |
| 8 | South Korea |
* 1988 Women's Olympic champions
* Soviet Union 4th title
* 12-woman roster
* Valentina Ogiyenko, Yelena Volkova, Marina Kumysh, Irina Smirnova, Tatyana Sidorenko, Irina Parkhomchuk, Tatyana Kraynova, Olga Shkurnova, Marina Nikulina, Yelena Ovchinnikova, Olga Krivosheyeva, Svetlana Korytova
* Head coach
* Nikolay Karpol

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Soviet Union (URS)Valentina Ogiyenko Yelena Volkova Marina Kumysh Irina Smirnova Tatyana Sidorenko Irina Parkhomchuk Tatyana Kraynova Olga Shkurnova Marina Nikulina Yelena Ovchinnikova Olga Krivosheyeva Svetlana Korytova Head coach: Nikolay Karpol | Peru (PER)Katherine Horny Cenaida Uribe Rosa García Miriam Gallardo Gaby Pérez Sonia Heredia Cecilia Tait Luisa Cervera Denisse Fajardo Alejandra de la Guerra Gina Torrealva Natalia Málaga Head coach: Park Man-bok | China (CHN)Li Guojun Zhao Hong Hou Yuzhu Wang Yajun Yang Xilan Su Huijuan Jiang Ying Cui Yongmei Yang Xiaojun Zheng Meizhu Wu Dan Li Yueming Head coach: Li Yaoxian |

## Awards

* Most valuable player
    Cecilia Tait (PER)
* Best setter
    Xilan Yang (CHN)
* Best scorer
    Irina Smirnova (URS)
* Best spiker
    Kim Oden (USA)
* Best blocker
    Susanne Lahme (GER)
* Best receiver
    Park Mi-hee (KOR)
* Best digger
    Maike Arlt (GER)
* Best server
    Grit Naumann (GER)

## Statistics Leaders

Best scorers
| Rank | Name | Total Points | Spike | Block | Serve |
| 1 | SMINRNOVA, Irina | 115 | 104 | 7 | 4 |
| 2 | OBAYASHI, Motoko | 109 | 101 | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | PEREZ DEL SOLAR, Gabriela | 108 | 89 | 16 | 3 |
| 4 | TAIT, Cecilia | 103 | 96 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | HOU Yuzhu | 98 | 90 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | RAMOS, Ana Claudia | 94 | 88 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | KEMNER, Caren | 90 | 77 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | LAHME, Susanne | 88 | 69 | 18 | 2 |
| 9 | SIDORENKO, Tatyana | 85 | 80 | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | FAJARDO, Denise | 80 | 73 | 4 | 2 |
Best attackers
| Rank | Name | Total kills | Efficiency% |
| 1 | ODEN, Kimberly | 65 | 39.27 |
| 2 | OVCHINNIKOVA, eLENA | 72 | 37.65 |
| 3 | WU Dan | 66 | 36.44 |
| 4 | SMIRNOVA, Irina | 104 | 34.53 |
| 5 | JENSEN, Grit | 61 | 33.46 |
Best blockers
| Rank | Name | Total blocks | Avg by set |
| 1 | LAHME, Susanne | 18 | 1.98 |
| 2 | PEREZ DEL SOLAR, Gabriela | 16 | 1.63 |
| 3 | URIBE, Cenaida | 15 | 1.22 |
| 4 | MALAGA, Natalia | 11 | 0.92 |
| 5 | LI Yueming | 10 | 0.88 |
Best servers
| Rank | Name | Total aces | Avg by set |
| 1 | JENSEN, Grit | 10 | 0.77 |
| 2 | SACHIKO, Fujita | 9 | 0.64 |
| 3 | SUGIYAMA, Akemi | 8 | 0.62 |
| 4 | ROCK, Angela | 8 | 0.57 |
| 5 | SIDORENKO, Tatyana | 6 | 0.48 |
Best diggers
| Rank | Name | Total digs | Avg by set |
| 1 | ARITT, Maike | 39 | 1.82 |
| 2 | WU Dan | 33 | 1.58 |
| 3 | GARCIA, Rosa | 31 | 1.37 |
| 4 | MASAKAYAN, Liz | 31 | 1.35 |
| 5 | PARK Min Hee | 30 | 1.28 |
Best setters
| Rank | Name | Excellent | Avg by set |
| 1 | YANG Xilan | 210 | 11.28 |
| 2 | PARKHOMCHUK, Irina | 196 | 10.52 |
| 3 | NAKADA, Ikumi | 165 | 8.83 |
| 4 | GARCIA, Rosa | 148 | 7.43 |
| 5 | KIM Yun-hye | 128 | 6.72 |
| 6 | KESSEL, Laurel | 103 | 5.37 |
| 7 | RICHA, Ana Maria | 97 | 5.22 |
| 8 | STUDEMANN, Dorte | 84 | 3.98 |
Best receivers
| Rank | Name | Excellent% |
| 1 | PARK Mi-Hee | 67.40 |
| 2 | FAJARDO, Denise | 67.00 |
| 3 | ARIT, Maike | 65.42 |
| 4 | MARUYAMA, Yumi | 64.89 |
| 5 | KEMNER, Caren | 62.82 |

## DREAM TEAM

* SETTER
    Xilan Yang (CHN)
* Outside Hitters
    Irina Smirnova (URS)
    Yuzhu Hou (CHN)
* MIDDLE BLOCKERS
    Susanne Lahme (GER)
    Gabriela Pérez del Solar (PER)
* OPPOSITE SPIKER
    Cecilia Tait (PER)