# 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. 12 teams competed, up from eight in 1992.

## 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 |
| 1995 Women's World Cup | 3–17 November 1995 | Japan | 3 | Brazil |
| 1995 Women's World Cup | 3–17 November 1995 | Japan | 3 | China |
| European Qualification | | | 1 | Germany |
| North American Qualification | | | 1 | Canada |
| South American Qualification | | | 1 | Peru |
| Asian Qualification | | | 1 | South Korea |
| African Qualification | | | 1 | Russia |
| 1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 26 May −2 June 1996 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | Netherlands |
| 1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 26 May −2 June 1996 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | Japan |
| 1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament | 26 May −2 June 1996 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 | Ukraine |
| Total | Total | 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.
| 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 |

## 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 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Netherlands | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 1.429 | 211 | 179 | 1.179 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | South Korea | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 1.111 | 249 | 222 | 1.122 | Quarterfinals |
| 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 | |

### 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 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Cuba | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1.667 | 196 | 156 | 1.256 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Germany | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 0.778 | 163 | 191 | 0.853 | Quarterfinals |
| 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 | |

## Final round

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final |
| 30 July | 30 July | | | |
| China | 3 | | | |
| China | 3 | 1 August | 1 August | | |
| Germany | 0 | 1 August | 1 August | |
| Germany | 0 | China | 3 | |
| 30 July | 30 July | | China | 3 | |
| 30 July | 30 July | Russia | 1 | |
| Netherlands | 1 | Russia | 1 | |
| Netherlands | 1 | | | | 3 August | 3 August |
| Russia | 3 | | | | 3 August | 3 August |
| Russia | 3 | | | | China | 1 |
| 30 July | 30 July | | | | | China | 1 |
| 30 July | 30 July | | | | Cuba | 3 |
| United States | 0 | | | | Cuba | 3 |
| United States | 0 | 1 August | 1 August | | | |
| Cuba | 3 | 1 August | 1 August | | | |
| Cuba | 3 | Cuba | 3 | | | |
| 30 July | 30 July | | Cuba | 3 | | | |
| 30 July | 30 July | Brazil | 2 | | Third place | Third place |
| South Korea | 0 | Brazil | 2 | | Third place | Third place |
| South Korea | 0 | | | | 3 August | 3 August |
| Brazil | 3 | | | | 3 August | 3 August |
| Brazil | 3 | | | | Russia | 2 |
| | | | | | Brazil | 3 |
| 5–8th place | 5–8th place | 5th place | 5th place |
| 31 July | 31 July |
| Germany | 2 |
| Germany | 2 | 1 August | 1 August |
| Netherlands | 3 | 1 August | 1 August |
| Netherlands | 3 | Netherlands | 3 |
| 31 July | 31 July | | Netherlands | 3 |
| 31 July | 31 July | South Korea | 0 |
| United States | 0 | South Korea | 0 |
| South Korea | 3 | | |
| South Korea | 3 | 7th place | 7th place |
| | | 1 August | 1 August |
| | | Germany | 1 |
| | | United States | 3 |

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

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