American men's volleyball team to face Italians, Chinese in Group A

Scene of the drawing of lotsPhoto Gallery>>Outcome of drawing of lots for Olympic Volleyball competition

(BEIJING, June 11) -- Lots were drawn to decide the groupings of the Olympic Volleyball tournament on June 11 beginning at 2 p.m. The groups will be used during the preliminary rounds of the Olympic Volleyball tournament to determine match-ups.

On the men's side, the Americans, ranked No. 3 in the world, will face No. 10 Italy and the host nation China in group A. Japan, which qualified for the Olympics this past weekend during the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tokyo, is also in the group.

Group B in the men's side has No. 1 Brazil facing off against No. 2 Russia and No. 5 Poland.

The Americans and Chinese will also meet in the preliminary round on the women's side. They have been put in Group A along with No. 3 Cuba and No. 8 Japan. In Group B, No. 1 Brazil will compete against No. 2 Italy, No. 5 Russian and No. 7 Serbia.

World rankings are up-to-date as of January 5, 2008, according to the official website of the International Volleyball Federation.

The teams for the Olympic tournaments have been divided as follows:

On the men's side:

Group A:

U.S.A. (A1)

Italy (A2)

Bulgaria (A3)

China (A4)

Japan (A5)

Venezuela (A6)

Group B:

Serbia (B1)

Brazil (B2)

Poland (B3)

Germany (B4)

Egypt (B5)

Russia (B6)

On the women's side:

Group A:

Japan (A1)

Venezuela (A2)

Poland (A3)

Cuba (A4)

China (A5)

America (A6)

Group B:

Algeria (B1)

Serbia (B2)

Italy (B3)

Russia (B4)

Kazakhstan (B5)

Brazil (B6)