About Women's Olympic Volleyball

Women's volleyball is contested every four years in the Summer Olympic Games. Currently, medals are awarded in both indoor and beach volleyball. United States women have been competitive in the sport, taking home several medals over the years.

Women's Volleyball in the Olympics: History
The sport of volleyball was invented in Massachusetts in 1895 by William G. Morgan as an alternative to basketball. In subsequent years volleyball became popular around the world and standard rules were implemented, such as six players on the court per team and no more than three hits per side. Volleyball debuted at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, with the host nation of Japan winning the women's gold medal.

Women's Volleyball in the Olympics: Rules
Indoor volleyball is played inside a gym while beach volleyball is played outdoors on sand, where weather elements such as sun and wind come into play. Six women take the court per team in indoor volleyball, while the beach version of the sport features only two women per side.

In indoor Olympic volleyball, matches are best-of-five sets. Each set is played to 25 points, except for the fifth set, which is played to fifteen. The winner must win each set by at least two points so if a set is tied at 24-24, the set is played out until one team goes ahead by two points. Team rosters usually include more than a dozen players and player substitutions are made regularly.

Women's Volleyball in the Olympics: Results
The USSR dominated early women's Olympic play, winning the gold medal in four of the first seven competitions. Cuba won three straight golds from 1992 to 2000. Japan and China are two-time gold medalists while Brazil claimed the most recent prize, defeating the United States in the gold-medal match in Beijing in 2008. The USA has won three women's volleyball medals over the years, claiming silver in 1984, bronze in 1992, and silver in 2008.

Women's Volleyball in the Olympics: Beach volleyball
Outdoor beach volleyball began in California in the 1920s as a fun recreational activity. The official beach volleyball circuit began in the U.S. in the 1950s. Beach volleyball debuted at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Scoring on the beach differs from indoor in that matches are best-of-three sets instead of five and sets are played to 21 points instead of 25.

In beach, unlike indoor volleyball, nations may send more than one team to the Olympics. Brazil has been the most successful country in women's beach, capturing gold and silver in 1996, silver and bronze in 2000, and silver in 2004. The U.S. team of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won gold in both 2004 and 2008 while the U.S. team of Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs took bronze in 2004. Australia captured the other Olympic gold, winning in Sydney in 2000.

Women's Volleyball in the Summer Olympics: Sources
http://assets.olympic.org/SportAnimations/en/summer/BV/BV_EN.html
http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/All-Sports/VolleyBall/Volleyball/Basketball-Equipment-and-History/?Tab=1