updated 10:43 a.m. ET Aug. 26, 2004

ATHENS, Greece - The U.S. volleyball team, expecting a challenging meeting with Brazil, thought its opponent quit early and gave away a meaningless match, but Brazil insisted it was caught up thinking about the next foe.

Whatever the case, the Americans move on with plenty of momentum, confidence and motivation — should they meet the Brazilians again soon.

“I have all the confidence in my team that it’s going to come back and bite them in the butt,” middle blocker Ryan Millar said, “so we’ll see what happens.”

Slide show   Visions of gold: Aug. 29 Demark throws for handball gold, Argentina takes it to the net and Britain's Mark Lewis-Francis jumps for joy.

Reid Priddy scored 10 points to lead the U.S. team to a four-set victory — 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22 — in which both squads played their reserves extensively.

Brazil was already guaranteed the group’s top seed, but the Americans were playing to pass Russia for third place — allowing Brazil to avoid a potential semifinal matchup against the Russians. The Brazilians will now face the United States-Greece winner instead, if they beat Poland in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Coach Bernardo Rezende denied any devious doings.

“We are thinking just about Poland,” Rezende said. “If we win, we’ll think about someone else.”

U.S. setter Lloy Ball called Brazil’s effort “embarrassing” and claimed they went against the Olympic spirit. “I hope they lose the rest of their matches,” he said.

Coach Doug Beal concurred.

“The sport needs integrity,” he said. “Brazil’s team always impressed me. They were the best in every match, but today I was really disappointed.”

The Brazilians, Rezende said, were distracted by the prospect of facing Poland. Competitive until the fourth set, they committed 45 unforced errors.

“I just hope the team can rebuild its confidence,” he said.

The Poles, who beat Argentina in five sets to gain the final spot, caught everyone’s attention with an opening-day sweep of defending gold medalist Serbia and Montenegro.

“We are worried,” Rezende said.

The Americans will face the Greeks in front of a crowd that’s sure to be loudly against them.

“It’s going to be an absolutely crazy environment,” Priddy said.

In the other quarterfinals, Russia will take on defending gold medalist Serbia-Montenegro and Italy goes up against Argentina.

U.S. starters Kevin Barnett, Clay Stanley and Ball weren’t in the lineup while outside hitter Riley Salmon, opposite Brook Billings and setter Donald Suxho got some work in.

After four intense matches, the Americans clearly enjoyed some stress-free volleyball. During a timeout in the third set, Ball strummed an air guitar and lip-synched to Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name.”

Though some felt slighted by Brazil’s performance, the Americans aren’t exactly broken up about another victory. They’re eager to play in a raucous atmosphere.

“I like it for us,” Millar said. “Why not? It puts us in a great spot. ... It’s going to be crazy. It’s going to be packed. It’s going to be loud. I like doing that, because it keeps you warm the whole match. It keeps the intensity level up the whole time.”

At full strength, the Brazilians will be tough to beat in the medal round. The only men’s squad to appear in all 11 Olympic tournaments since the sport debuted at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Brazil is a terrific offensive team that plays with perhaps more confidence than anyone else in the world.

Despite their rich history, the Brazilians have won just two medals — a gold in 1992 and a silver in 1984, when they lost to the United States in the final. Beal, who returned to the American sideline in 1997 after a 12-year absence, coached the 1984 team in Los Angeles.

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