# Volleyball at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The 1968 Women's Olympic Volleyball Tournament was the 2nd edition of the event, organized by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the IOC. It was held in Ciudad de México, Mexico from October 13 to 26, 1968.

## Qualification

| Qualifiers | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host Country | 18 October 1963 | Baden-Baden | 1 | Mexico |
| 1964 Olympic Games | Oct. 11–23, 1964 | Tokyo | 1 | Japan |
| 1967 World Championship | Jan. 25 – 29, 1967 | Tokyo | 3 | United States South Korea Peru* |
| 1967 European Championship | Oct. 22 – Nov. 7, 1967 | İzmir | 3 | Soviet Union Poland Czechoslovakia |
| Total | Total | Total | 8 | |
* Peru qualified as the 1967 World Championship fourth best team as winners Japan were already qualified as 1964 Olympic champions.

## 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

* Juan de la Barrera Olympic Gymnasium, Ciudad de México
* Revolution Ice Rink, Ciudad de México

## Round robin

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR |
| 1 | Soviet Union | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 7.000 | 333 | 194 | 1.716 |
| 2 | Japan | 7 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 19 | 3 | 6.333 | 318 | 147 | 2.163 |
| 3 | Poland | 7 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 1.364 | 324 | 304 | 1.066 |
| 4 | Peru | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 0.800 | 306 | 327 | 0.936 |
| 5 | South Korea | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 0.786 | 276 | 305 | 0.905 |
| 6 | Czechoslovakia | 7 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 0.733 | 307 | 307 | 1.000 |
| 7 | Mexico | 7 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 0.389 | 215 | 338 | 0.636 |
| 8 | United States | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 21 | 0.190 | 196 | 353 | 0.555 |
| Date | | Score | | Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Total | Report |
| 13 Oct | Poland | 3–2 | South Korea | 10–15 | 12–15 | 15–10 | 15–12 | 17–15 | 69–67 | Report |
| 13 Oct | Japan | 3–0 | United States | 15–6 | 15–2 | 15–2 | | | 45–10 | Report |
| 13 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–1 | Czechoslovakia | 8–15 | 15–7 | 15–13 | 15–7 | | 53–42 | Report |
| 13 Oct | Peru | 3–2 | Mexico | 15–17 | 15–5 | 10–15 | 15–2 | 15–7 | 70–46 | Report |
| 14 Oct | Peru | 3–0 | South Korea | 15–13 | 15–6 | 15–9 | | | 45–28 | Report |
| 14 Oct | Czechoslovakia | 3–1 | United States | 15–8 | 11–15 | 15–9 | 15–11 | | 56–43 | Report |
| 14 Oct | Japan | 3–0 | Mexico | 15–7 | 15–3 | 15–2 | | | 45–12 | Report |
| 14 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–0 | Poland | 15–5 | 15–11 | 15–4 | | | 45–20 | Report |
| 15 Oct | Czechoslovakia | 3–0 | Mexico | 15–8 | 15–2 | 16–14 | | | 46–24 | Report |
| 15 Oct | Japan | 3–0 | Peru | 15–3 | 15–11 | 15–9 | | | 45–23 | Report |
| 16 Oct | Poland | 3–0 | United States | 15–3 | 15–1 | 16–14 | | | 46–18 | Report |
| 16 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–0 | South Korea | 15–9 | 15–6 | 15–2 | | | 45–17 | Report |
| 17 Oct | South Korea | 3–1 | United States | 15–9 | 15–13 | 6–15 | 15–5 | | 51–42 | Report |
| 17 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–0 | Peru | 15–4 | 15–9 | 15–9 | | | 45–22 | Report |
| 19 Oct | Japan | 3–0 | Czechoslovakia | 15–7 | 15–8 | 15–7 | | | 45–22 | Report |
| 19 Oct | Poland | 3–2 | Mexico | 15–9 | 12–15 | 15–11 | 11–15 | 15–4 | 68–54 | Report |
| 20 Oct | Japan | 3–0 | Poland | 15–5 | 15–6 | 15–6 | | | 45–17 | Report |
| 20 Oct | Czechoslovakia | 3–2 | Peru | 7–15 | 13–15 | 15–9 | 15–2 | 15–3 | 65–44 | Report |
| 21 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–1 | United States | 15–1 | 6–15 | 15–4 | 15–6 | | 51–26 | Report |
| 21 Oct | South Korea | 3–0 | Mexico | 15–5 | 15–4 | 15–6 | | | 45–15 | Report |
| 23 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–0 | Mexico | 15–6 | 15–10 | 15–3 | | | 45–19 | Report |
| 23 Oct | Peru | 3–1 | United States | 15–11 | 15–0 | 14–16 | 15–12 | | 59–39 | Report |
| 24 Oct | Poland | 3–0 | Czechoslovakia | 15–13 | 15–7 | 15–12 | | | 45–32 | Report |
| 24 Oct | Japan | 3–0 | South Korea | 15–5 | 15–5 | 15–4 | | | 45–14 | Report |
| 25 Oct | Poland | 3–1 | Peru | 15–10 | 14–16 | 15–9 | 15–8 | | 59–43 | Report |
| 25 Oct | South Korea | 3–1 | Czechoslovakia | 15–9 | 15–9 | 9–15 | 15–11 | | 54–44 | Report |
| 26 Oct | Mexico | 3–0 | United States | 15–8 | 15–7 | 15–4 | | | 45–19 | Report |
| 26 Oct | Soviet Union | 3–1 | Japan | 15–10 | 16–14 | 3–15 | 15–9 | | 49–48 | Report |

## Final standings

| Place | Team |
| | Soviet Union |
| | Japan |
| | Poland |
| 4 | Peru |
| 5 | South Korea |
| 6 | Czechoslovakia |
| 7 | Mexico |
| 8 | United States |
* 1968 Women's Olympic champions
* Soviet Union 1st title
* 12-woman roster
* Lyudmila Buldakova, Lyudmila Mikhailkovskaya, Tatyana Veinberga, Vera Lantratova, Vera Galushka-Duyunova, Tatyana Sarycheva, Tatyana Ponyaeva-Tretyakova, Nina Smoleeva, Inna Ryskal, Galina Leontyeva, Roza Salikhova, Valentina Kamenek-Vinogradova
* Head coach
* Givi Akhvlediani

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Soviet Union (URS)Lyudmila Buldakova Lyudmila Mikhailkovskaya Tatyana Veinberga Vera Lantratova Vera Galushka-Duyunova Tatyana Sarycheva Tatyana Ponyaeva-Tretyakova Nina Smoleeva Inna Ryskal Galina Leontyeva Roza Salikhova Valentina Kamenek-Vinogradova Head coach: Givi Akhvlediani | Japan (JPN)Setsuko Yosjida Suzue Takayama Toyoko Iwahara Youko Kasahara Aiko Onozawa Yukiyo Kojima Sachiko Fukanaka Kunie Shishikura Setsuko Inoue Sumie Oinuma Makiko Furakawa Keiko Hama Head coach: Shigeo Yamada | Poland (POL)Elżbieta Porzec Zofia Szczęśniewska Wanda Wiecha Barbara Niemczyk Krystyna Ostromęcka Krystyna Krupa Jadwiga Książek Józefa Ledwig Krystyna Jakubowska Lidia Chmielnicka Krystyna Czajkowska Halina Aszkiełowicz Head coach: Benedykt Krysik |