| | Event type

Volleyball, Women

Date	27 August – 7 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Volleyballhalle, Olympiapark, München
Participants	91 from 8 countries
Format	Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches.

The event had a different format compared to the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, with eight teams competing in two pools of four. The qualifying standards were as follows: the defending champion (USSR), the top four teams at the 1970 World Championships (Japan, North Korea [DPR Korea], Hungary, and Czechoslovakia substituting for the Soviets), the Asian Champion (Korea), the 1967 Pan-American Games champion (Cuba), and the host nation (Federal Republic of Germany). The top two teams in each pool were advanced to the semi-finals, with four final matches used to determine final placements.

The Soviets were favored, having won the 1970 Worlds, the 1968 Olympics, and the last four European titles. Their main opponent was expected to be their long-time rival, Japan, the 1964 Olympic champion. Japan and the USSR both won their pools with undefeated records, and were joined in the semis by the two Koreas. This was not considered an upset as Korea had been third at the 1967 Worlds and North Korea (DPR Korea) third at the 1970 Worlds. But they were both defeated fairly easily in the semis by the favorites, setting up the hoped-for final. And it was quite a final. The two teams alternated sets, with the Soviet Union eventually winning 15-11, in the fifth.

In the bronze medal match, DPR Korea easily defeated Korea in three sets, 7, 9, and 9. After the match, the South Koreans claimed that the top PRK player Kim Zung-Bok was a man, not a woman. Their protest was disallowed, as the IOC had issued sex tests prior at these Olympics, and Kim had passed them. But according to the South Koreans, she had been substituted in the test by another player, Han Jong-Suk, who did not play at the Olympics.

Pos	Number	Team	NOC	Matches Played	Wins	Losses	Points	Sets	Set Ratio	Points	Points Ratio
1	–	Soviet Union	URS	5	5	0	10	15-5	3.000	270-206	1.311	Gold
	1	Lyudmila Buldakova		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Lyubov Tyurina		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Vera Galushka-Duyunova		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Lyudmila Borozna		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Tatyana Sarycheva		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Nina Smoleyeva		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Tatyana Ponyayeva-Tretyakova		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Roza Salikhova		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Inna Ryskal		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Nataliya Kudreva		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Galina Leontyeva		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Tatyana Gonobobleva		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		Givi Akhvlediani
2	–	Japan	JPN	5	4	1	9	14-3	4.667	244-131	1.863	Silver
	1	Katsumi Matsumura		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Noriko Yamashita		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Toyoko Iwahara		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Takako Iida		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Sumie Oinuma		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Makiko Furukawa		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Keiko Hama		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Seiko Shimakage		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Yaeko Yamazaki		2	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Michiko Shiokawa		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Mariko Okamoto		2	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Takako Shirai		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		Koji Kojima
3	–	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK	5	3	2	8	10-6	1.667	211-154	1.370	Bronze
	1	Ryom Chun-Ja		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Kim Su-Dae		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Ri Chun-Ok		3	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Paek Myong-Suk		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Jong Ok-Jin		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Kim Myong-Suk		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Jang Ok-Rim		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Kim Yeun-Ja		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Kim Zung-Bok		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Kang Ok-Sun		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Hwang He-Suk		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Han Jong-Suk DNS		–	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		?
4	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	5	2	3	7	7-9	0.778	169-189	0.894
	1	Kim Eun-Hui		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Kim Yeong-Ja		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Lee In-Suk		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Lee Jeong-Ja		3	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Lee Sun-Bok		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Yun Yeong-Nae		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Jo Hye-Jeong		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Yu Gyeong-Hwa		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Yu Jeong-Hye		3	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Lee Kyung-Ai DNS		–	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Lee Kyung-Sook DNS		–	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		?
5	–	Hungary	HUN	5	3	2	8	10-10	1.000	256-252	1.016
	1	Mária Gál		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Judit Kiss-Gerhardt		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Emőke Énekes-Szegedi		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Zsuzsa Bokros-Török		3	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Lucia Bánhegyi-Radó		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Judit Fekete		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Ilona Makláry-Buzek		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Judit Schlégl-Blaumann		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Ágnes Torma		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Katalin Eichler-Schadek		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Emerencia Siry-Király		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Éva Sebők-Szalay		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		Gabriella Kotsis
6	–	Cuba	CUB	5	2	3	7	8-10	0.800	181-252	0.718
	1	Mercedes Pérez		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Claudina Villaurrutia		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Ana Díaz		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Mercedes Pomares		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Margarita Mayeta		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Mercedes Roca		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Miriam Herrera		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Nurys Sebey		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Claritza Herrera		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Nelly Barnet		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Mavis Guilarte		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Evelina Borroto		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		Eugenio George
7	–	Czechoslovakia	TCH	5	1	4	6	6-12	0.500	191-241	0.793
	1	Irena Svobodová		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Elena Poláková-Moskalová		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Hilda Mazúrová		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Mária Mališová		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Ludmila Vindušková		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Jana Semecká		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Dora Jelínková		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Anna Mifková		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Jana Vápenková		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Hana Vlasáková		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Darina Kodajová		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Ivana Moulisová		1	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		?
8	–	West Germany	FRG	5	0	5	5	0-15	0.000	131-228	0.575
	1	Erika Heucke		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	2	Ingrid Lorenz		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	3	Rike Ruschenburg		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	4	Annedore Richter		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	5	Ursula Westphal		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	6	Traute Schäfer		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	7	Marianne Lepa		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	8	Birgit Pörner		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	9	Margret Stender		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	11	Regina Pütz		5	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	12	Annette Ellerbracke		4	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
	10	Birgit Drechsel DNS		–	–	–	–	–-–	–	–-–	–
Coach		Park Dai-Hee

Preliminary Round

Date	27 August – 1 September 1972

Group A

Date	27 – 31 August 1972
Format	Round-robin pools.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Losses	Points	Sets	Set Ratio	Points	Points Ratio
1	Soviet Union	URS	3	0	6	9-2	4.500	159-96	1.656
2	Republic of Korea	KOR	2	1	5	7-3	2.333	127-99	1.283
3	Hungary	HUN	1	2	4	4-6	0.667	114-131	0.870
4	West Germany	FRG	0	3	3	0-9	0.000	61-135	0.452

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	27 Aug 15:30	Hungary	HUN	15-8, 15-11, 15-9	West Germany	FRG
Match #2	27 Aug 21:00	Soviet Union	URS	11-15, 15-8, 15-7, 15-7	Republic of Korea	KOR
Match #3	29 Aug 15:30	Republic of Korea	KOR	15-7, 15-13, 15-11	Hungary	HUN
Match #4	29 Aug 21:00	Soviet Union	URS	15-5, 15-7, 15-9	West Germany	FRG
Match #5	31 Aug 15:30	Soviet Union	URS	15-12, 15-2, 13-15, 15-9	Hungary	HUN
Match #6	31 Aug 21:00	Republic of Korea	KOR	15-2, 15-8, 15-2	West Germany	FRG

Group B

Date	28 August – 1 September 1972
Format	Round-robin pools.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Wins	Losses	Points	Sets	Set Ratio	Points	Points Ratio
1	Japan	JPN	3	0	6	9-0	∞	136-56	2.429
2	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK	2	1	5	6-3	2.000	119-76	1.566
3	Cuba	CUB	1	2	4	3-7	0.429	73-140	0.521
4	Czechoslovakia	TCH	0	3	3	1-9	0.111	85-141	0.603

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	28 Aug 15:30	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK	15-1, 15-8, 15-3	Cuba	CUB
Match #2	28 Aug 21:00	Japan	JPN	15-1, 15-7, 15-9	Czechoslovakia	TCH
Match #3	30 Aug 15:30	Japan	JPN	15-2, 15-3, 15-5	Cuba	CUB
Match #4	30 Aug 21:00	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK	15-3, 15-7, 15-8	Czechoslovakia	TCH
Match #5	01 Sep 15:30	Cuba	CUB	6-15, 15-12, 15-10, 15-13	Czechoslovakia	TCH
Match #6	01 Sep 21:00	Japan	JPN	15-3, 15-12, 16-14	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK

Classification Round 5-8

Date	2 September 1972
Format	Classification matches.

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	02 Sep 15:30	Cuba	CUB	15-11, 15-13, 17-15	West Germany	FRG
Match #2	02 Sep 21:00	Hungary	HUN	15-9, 13-15, 11-15, 15-10, 15-11	Czechoslovakia	TCH

Semi-Finals

Date	2 – 3 September 1972
Format	Single-elimination.

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	03 Sep 15:30	Japan	JPN	15-3, 15-5, 15-9	Republic of Korea	KOR
Match #2	03 Sep 21:00	Soviet Union	URS	15-10, 16-14, 7-15, 15-8	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK

Final Round

Date	7 September 1972
Format	Medal round.

Match	Date/Time	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match 1/2	07 Sep 21:00	Soviet Union	URS	15-11, 4-15, 15-11, 9-15, 15-11	Japan	JPN
Match 3/4	07 Sep 15:30	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	PRK	15-7, 15-9, 15-9	Republic of Korea	KOR
Match 5/6	07 Sep 19:30	Hungary	HUN	13-15, 14-16, 16-14, 15-5, 15-11	Cuba	CUB
Match 7/8	07 Sep 14:00	Czechoslovakia	TCH	15-13, 15-4, 16-14	West Germany	FRG