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ATHENS, Greece - Nobody expected the decisive game to come so soon. The outcome was quite a jolt, too.
The U.S. women’s volleyball team never even got to play for an Olympic medal.
Instead, a group of Americans that arrived with a No. 1 ranking left with a major disappointment that will sting for a long time. They were bounced from the quarterfinals by unbeaten Brazil after a shaky showing in the preliminary round.
“I think we fought well,” coach Toshi Yoshida said after the five-set loss to the second-ranked Brazilians on Tuesday. “We showed everything we’ve got, but everything wasn’t enough.”
It wasn’t even close, and it was their own fault.
After losing to China and beating Germany, the Americans suffered a stunning five-set loss to the Dominican Republic in the preliminary round. The U.S. softball team — on its way to a perfect mark and a gold medal — passed along some advice about hope and teamwork, trying to spark something.
Whatever the softball team had didn’t rub off. The United States lost in five sets to Russia the next night, setting up the early exit.
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A victory over Cuba on the final day of preliminary play clinched the last spot in the quarterfinals, but the 2-3 record stuck the Americans with the lowest seed.
“The past is the past,” libero Stacy Sykora said. “When we lost to Russia, we started to play USA Volleyball. We lost as a team. We felt like we played well. Not one person, 12 individuals, but one team.”
That was one of the biggest problems.
Building off a fourth-place finish in Sydney four years ago, the Americans added some talent, notably 6-foot-7 Tayyiba Haneef and outside hitter Keba Phipps. Captain Tara Cross-Battle decided to come back for a fourth Olympics.
The talent was there. But with an age range of 21 to 35, six new players and six participating in overseas leagues, it didn’t come together in time.
“It took a long time,” Phipps said. “It’s not really a lot of egos. It’s just a bunch of individuals.
“We have a lot of different characters,” she said, laughing. “Twelve women on one team? (It) ain’t easy to get along.”
When the Americans finally found their chemistry, it was a little too late to start rolling. In their final match against Brazil, they dropped the first two sets but rallied to tie. The Brazilians took an 8-2 lead in the fifth set, however, and won 15-6.
“We ran out of gas at the end,” reserve outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani said. “We worked so hard emotionally and physically and mentally to come back from being down 0-2.”
Fending off tears after Tuesday’s loss, players were fast to point out how pleased they were with their determination and camaraderie.
“They gave it all out there,” outside hitter Logan Tom said, “and I hope people saw that. I hope people saw us tonight and are proud of us, even though we came out with a loss. Because I know I am, and I always will be.”
It was way too early to talk about the 2008 Games in Beijing, but the Americans should have another strong group led by Tom, Haneef and Nnamani — who are all currently 25 or younger.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen next,” Yoshida said.
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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. |
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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