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August 27, 2004 5:45 pm

Men's volleyball will play for bronze

By STEVE RIVERA

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - The U.S. men's volleyball team knew going in against Brazil it had to play near flawlessly to win.

Instead, as Clay Stanley put it, Team USA came up with its ``B'' game in getting swept 25-16, 25-17, 25-23 Friday against No. 1 ranked Brazil at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

``There was a lack of rhythm,'' Stanley said, referring to his team's first two games in which Team USA was outclassed and outplayed. ``I wasn't very effective offensively. Not only myself, but the team needs to be great to beat this team. They are a great team. They run a phenomenal team offense. We have to play our best.

``You can't have a B game.''

Team USA also played as the clear underdog as the 9,380 fans mostly rooted for Brazil. Whenever a USA pocket of fans started to chant ``USA, USA, USA'' they were out-shouted.

``I thought we had a strong USA contingent,'' said Reid Priddy. ``They tried to get us going. (The crowd) didn't affect us as much as the last match (a win against host Greece).''

Brazil advances to play Italy in the gold medal game. The United States faces Russia for the bronze. Both matches are on Sunday.

``They are a better team than we are,'' said USA team captain Lloy Ball, whose team got into the semifinal match by pulling out a miracle five-game match against Greece. ``We knew coming in we'd have to have a special effort. I'm really proud that our guys played really hard.''

Team USA could never get going against Brazil, the high-flying, hard-hitting favorites to win the gold. Brazil played nearly flawlessly while the United States struggled to stay close. In the three games, Team USA had only five leads - one in the first game at 6-5 and four in the third.

``It's hard to match their emotional (play),'' said Ball, who played at the University of Indiana-Purdue. ``They are by far the most emotional team out there. But I think it becomes deflating over time by the fact that we are always one step behind. They run a fast offense because they pass well. They put the ball on the money. We could never catch up with them.''It didn't help that one of Team USA's best hitters, Stanley, didn't have a very good game. Stanley, a Honolulu native, went into the match as the team's top scorer with 91, but was a non-factor with just six points, eventually sitting out most of the third game.

``We never got Clay going and they run the fastest offense in the world and it's tough to catch up to them if they get a lead,'' Ball said.

Stanley returned late in the third game to serve with the United States down 22-19. He helped close the gap to 22-21 but couldn't get the United States the victory to force a fourth game.

``What I saw in the third game was a ray of hope,'' said Priddy. ``I thought we'd pull it out, but we didn't.''

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