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Posted on Thu. Aug. 21, 2008 - 10:41 am EDT   E-mail this story   Print this

Lloy Ball, Team USA in medal round
Team will face Russia on Friday, where serve reception will be key.

By Blake Sebring
of The News-Sentinel

The Russians are standing between Lloy Ball, for his second Olympics in a row, and a medal.

The Woodburn native and former IPFW All-American won a personal duel with Serbian setter Nikola Grbic as the United States won 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12 in the quarterfinals Wednesday morning. In a matchup of four-time Olympic setters, the U.S. trailed throughout the match and fell behind 7-4 in the fifth game before rallying.

“This is why you are here, for matches like that,” Ball said. “That's the biggest win of my Olympic career. As good as Brazil is, as good as Russia is, there isn't a better team in the tournament than Serbia. They are technically so sound that they don't make mistakes, and Grbic is one of the best in the world. It was a grind-it-out match where, luckily, I think our heart and perseverance paid off in the end.”

The U.S. will play Russia in the semifinals at 12:30 a.m. Friday Fort Wayne time. The Russians beat Bulgaria 3-1. The other semifinal matches Italy against Brazil after the Italians upset Poland 3-1 and Brazil crushed the host Chinese 3-0. The bronze and gold medal matches will be played late Saturday night.

The Americans struggled to pass-serve against Serbia and contain Ivan Miljkovich, the world's best hitter. Miljkovich finished with 23 kills, but the U.S. blockers figured him out in the fifth game, limiting him to one kill. The U.S. trailed 7-4 after a missed touch call on Serbia, but Ball continually mixed up his choices to keep the Serbian defense guessing.

“It was a hard match where different guys played good at different stages,” Ball said. “Guys kept finding other ways to help us win. That's the way we are going to win. We win matches because we are a team all the way through.”

USA is 2-12 against the Russians since 1998, including losing the 2004 bronze medal match in Athens. Russia is by far the tallest team in the tournament, which means the Americans cannot win a blocking war. Serve reception will be the key.

“Big guys are also slower guys, and if we can get them running around, hopefully we can pick them apart a bit,” Ball said. “They are a team that people get afraid of because they go on runs, but they also give up runs. They tend to make mistakes more than Serbia, and you have to be ready to take advantage of them.”

The Americans also may have an advantage because Ball and leading American hitter Clay Stanley play professionally in Russia and know the opposing players very well.

They combined to win the Russian pro title two years ago and last year won the European club championship.

“I think they know Clay and I are winners and we're going to fight real hard,” Ball said. “Our team tends to be better at taking advantage of guys tactically that we know, and we know a lot about this match.”

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