Following a four-set victory July 27 over Serbia in the final of the FIVB World League, Highland of Palmdale graduate Ryan Millar said the U.S. men's volleyball team entered the Olympics as the "legitimate No. 3 team in the world."

After Friday's 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 22-25, 15-13 semifinal victory over No. 2 Russia at Capital Indoor Stadium, the Americans have an opportunity to once again be the best Sunday in the gold medal match against top-ranked Brazil, a four-set semifinal winner over No. 10 Italy.

The U.S., which lost to Russia in the 2004 bronze medal match in Athens and again in the 2007 World Cup final, is seeking its first men's indoor volleyball gold medal since 1988. The Americans won back-to-back gold medals in 1984 and '88 and followed with a bronze in 1992, but haven't medaled since, going winless in 2000.

Reid Priddy led the U.S. with 17 kills and 12 digs, Pierce College alum Riley Salmon added 13 kills and 10 digs, Millar added 12 kills and two blocks, and Clay Stanley recorded 11 kills and six digs for the Americans, who rallied from a 12-11 deficit in the final set. Pepperdine graduate Sean Rooney sparked a six-point scoring run for the U.S. to close out the second set.

The U.S. had an opportunity to close the match out in three sets, rallying from a three-point deficit to tie the score at 24-24 in the third, but Russia extended the match before forcing a deciding fifth set with a convincing win in the fourth.

The Americans swept Brazil 25-23, 25-22, 27-25 in Rio de Janeiro on July 26 to reach the FIVB World League final. Brazil defeated Italy in 2004 in Athens to capture the gold medal.

Brazil beat the Americans in four sets in the 1992 semifinals in Barcelona en route to capturing the gold medal.

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh weren't the only American women making history on the volleyball court Thursday in Beijing.

The U.S. women's volleyball team, swept by Cuba on Aug. 11, recorded the most impressive victory of the tournament with a 25-20, 25-16, 25-17 semifinal sweep at Capital Gymnasium.

It marks the first time since 1984 and only the second in the country's history that the Americans will be competing for the gold medal in women's indoor volleyball.

Ironically, the U.S. lost to China in the 1984 final in Los Angeles. One of the stars of the victorious Chinese team was "Jenny" Lang Ping, now the head coach of the U.S. women's national team. Lang Ping coached the Chinese to the silver medal in 1996 in Atlanta.

The U.S., No. 4 in the FIVB world rankings, faces top-ranked Brazil in the final.

Third-ranked Cuba, which captured three consecutive gold medals from 1992-2000 and took bronze in 2004 in Athens, went undefeated in pool play, including a 25-15, 26-24, 25-17 victory over the Americans. In that match, the U.S. never found an offensive rhythm, hitting .450 with only 19 digs. Tayyiba Haneef-Park led the Americans with 12 kills in that contest, Logan Tom added seven kills and Danielle Scott-Arruda contributed five.

In the rematch, the U.S. hit .490 with 31 digs and received much more offensive balance, with five players recording at least five kills.

Haneef-Park led again with nine kills, Tom added seven, Kim Willoughby came off the bench with six and Scott-Arruda and Kim Glass had five apiece. Libero Nicole Davis, an All-American at USC, contributed seven digs and Tom led the Americans with 10.

The U.S. hadn't reached the medal round since 2000, when it took fourth. The Americans' last medal was a bronze in 1992 in Barcelona, losing to Cuba in five games in the semifinals, before rebounding to sweep Brazil in the third-place match.

Flyweight Charlotte Craig of Murietta advanced to the taekwondo quarterfinals after defeating Switzerland's Manuela Bezzola, 4-0, in her opening match. Craig will face Venezuela's Dalia Contreras Rivero in the quarterfinals.

Brenda Villa of Commerce scored three goals including the game winner in a water polo semifinals against Australia.
Villa's goal with a minute left in the game gave the United States a 9-8 win and moved the U.S. into the gold medal game against the Netherlands. It is the first time the United States women's water polo team has been in an Olympic gold medal game since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
The United States is assured of a medal for the third straight Olympics. No other women's water polo team has medaled in three straight Olympics.
"I liked the way we played, both teams know each other extremely well and I just figured it would be this type of game, said Guy Baker, head coach for the U.S. women's water polo team. "I liked the fourth quarter and how we played and how we were able to overcome losing a three goal lead."
Lauren Wegner of Long Beach left the game in the closing seconds with a fractured right hand.
The gold medal game against the Netherlands is Thursday in Beijing.
"We go back tonight and start preparing for the Netherlands," Baker said. "We had a four-day camp with them at Da Xing when we first arrived in China, so we have spent a little time together. They are playing great, they beat Russia to qualify to get here and they are a very good team under pressure."

Brandon Knight of Oxnard struck out five of the first seven batters he faced and was the winning pitcher for the United States in a round-robin game against Chinese Taipei.
Knight gave up five hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 win over Chinese Taipei.
"(Chinese Taipei) was what we expected and I was just very impressed (with them)," said Knight, who made his second start in the Olympics. "I think it is something that I have been through having played in Asia. They really do good job of making adjustments. Their scouting is second to none and they really pay attention to what is going on. The first time through the order I was able to make some good pitches and get some swings and misses. But they made the adjustment. They started taking some good pitches and taking some good swings on others. I was impressed but I also wasn't surprised."
The U.S. team earned a spot in the medal round with the win over Chinese Taipei. The United States plays Japan next in the final game of round-robin play. Both teams have 4-2 records.
Korea is undefeated at 6-0. Cuba is second with a 5-1 record.

Ventura's Troy Dumais' quest for an Olympic medal ended with another sixth-place finish in the 3-meter springboard finals.
This was his third Olympics. He finished fourth in 3-meter synchronized in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He was sixth three times, in 3-meter springboard in 2000 and 2004 and in 3-meter synchronized in 2004 in Athens.
"I went after everything. I didn't hold anything back. I wasn't going to be tentative," said Dumais, a graduate of Buena High School. "My fifth dive is the only thing that bothered me tonight. I've trained really, really hard the past four years, and it's paid off with huge dividends. I did everything I could."
China won its sixth diving gold in six events as He Chong dominated the field with 572.90 points. Canada's Alexandre Despatie scored 536.65 points for silver, just ahead of China's Qin Kai, who won bronze at 530.10.
Dumais earned mark of 9.0 or better on four of his six dives, including earning 91.80 points with his third round dive. His fifth round dive only earned him 57.75 points.

Ventura's Troy Dumais advanced to the 3-meter springboard semifinals in diving at the Olympics, but he is 12th out of the 18 who moved on.
His United States teammate Chris Colwill is seventh after the preliminary round.
Dumais had two high-scoring dives, but his three other dives were executed below expectations.
He had the second highest scoring dives in the second and third rounds, but was in last place after a poorly executed first dive. His scored poorly on his fifth and last dive in preliminaries.
"I didn't perform my dives the way I have the past six or seven weeks. I don't want to have an off day, but I'll change the channel and regroup," Dumais said.
Colwill rallied with his last three dives in preliminaries and was able to erase a slow start.
"I was definitely a little nervous on that first dive, but I felt confident. I definitely could have done a little better, but I can't complain," Colwill said.

The United States will face Australia in the quarterfinals of the Olympic basketball tournament after soundly defeating Germany 106-59 in the final game of pool play.
Kobe Bryant, who scored 13 points against Germany in a meaningless game for the United States as far as seeding goes, said there wasn't much to work on in preparation for the game against Australia.
"You know Australia plays a completely different style of game than we faced tonight," Bryant said. "They run a continuity offense, they're very proficient at it. They run hard cuts, set hard picks, they're very smart. That will be a different ball game. I expect them to play hard, to play tough, they're not intimidated. They won't back down. They'll come ready to play.
Australia (2-3) was the No. 4 team Group A. Spain plays Croatia, Lithuania plays China and Argentina plays Greece in the other quarterfinal games.
The United States (5-0) had impressive wins over Spain and Greece in pool play. Spain won the world championships earlier this year and Greece knocked the United States out of the world championships two years ago.
"We just play the game the way we know how," Bryant said. "That's what we do. We're not out there to embarrass or intimidate anybody. We just go out there and do what we do best. No matter what the score is, you still have to play hard, so that's what we have to do."
American swimmer Michael Phelps visited the United States team after the game.
"We were just talking, shooting the bull," Bryant said. "Nothing of substance. We had a good time."
Bryant said he was going to watch the soccer match between Brazil and Argentina before the United States plays Australia.
"Yes, of course," Bryant said. "I'll be there tomorrow night. I get to see Messi and Ronaldinho go at it tomorrow at 9 o'clock. I will be there."
The gold medal and bronze medal games will be Sunday in China. The gold medal game starts at 2:30 p.m. in Beijing, which is 11:30 p.m. Saturday night in Los Angeles. The bronze medal game starts at noon Beijing time, 9 p.m. Saturday in L.A.
"This is what we came here for. Now it's go time," Bryant said. "All we're trying to do is get better every day and the last few games we've been getting better. Hopefully
we can do that Wednesday."

Looking for its first Olympic medal since 1992 in Barcelona and its first gold since 1988 in Seoul, the United States volleyball team enters the quarterfinals with an undefeated 5-0 record in pool play.
The United States defeated Japan in three games and will face Serbia Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Ryan Millar of Lancaster and a Highland High School graduate had 10 points, five on kills and four blocks.
"Ryan is having a very good tournament," U.S. Olympic men's indoor volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "He is hitting the ball with a lot range, being able to attack a lot of zones. I am very happy with his offensive output. I also think he is doing a nice job defensively with his blocking. He has been serving for a lot of points."

The United States equestrian show jumping team won a gold medal, downing the Canadian team in a jump off in Hong Kong.
The United States and Canada were tied with 20 faults at the end of competition in regulation.
Will Simpson of Thousand Oaks, a 48-year-old making his OIympics debut, rode Carlsson vom Dach in a crucial third round. Simpson and Carlsson vom Dach had eight faults, touching the tape again at the water obstacle, but it was enough to secure the gold medal for the United States.
"I didn't know I'd had the water," said Simpson. "The horse didn't know. I'm disappointed because he put in a great effort. He's such a smart horse. He was jumping so well."
Simpson and Carlsson vom Dach will compete in the individual portion of the show jumping competition which begins Thursday.

Desribed as having a lively round, Will Simpson of Thousand Oaks and Carlsson von Dach made a couple of mistakes in the Olympic show jumping event, but not enough to keep the United States team out of first place.
Simpson and Carlsson vom Dach accounted for eight of the 12 faults committed by the United States four-horse team. The U.S. is tied with Switzerland with 12 faults apiece after the first round of team competition in Hong Kong.
Carlsson vom Dach put a toe on the tape at the water jump at fence four, then did the same thing at the second part of the triple down.
"We had a bobble at the water," said Simpson, a 48-year-old competing in his first Olympics. "Other than that the course rode pretty good. I miscalculated the four stride and ended up too far into the corner before the triple. I was too far away from B, he was a good horse to even try."
The countries with the top eight scores will jump again Monday. Nine countries have qualfied because Germany and Australia are tied with 20 faults apiece.
Simpson and Carlsson vom Dach get another chance at the course and another chance to improve on their score.
"The water comes up quickly with that blind turn early in the course," Simpson said Sunday. "He jumped it fine but just landed on the tape. I think he'll be fine for tomorrow."

Keeth Smart was the hero and Brentwood's Jason Rogers was absent from the gold medal saber match. But the United States won its first Olympic medal in saber competition since 1948.
James Williams fenced in place of Rogers in the gold medal match against France, which won 45-37. Apparently the fencing coaches wanted Williams to win an Olympic medal and changed its lineup against France. Rogers was the No. 3 fencer for the U.S. fencing team in its first two matches against Hungary and Russia.
Smart had to rally the United States in both its matches against Hungary and Russia. The U.S. was trailing both matches entering the final rounds. Smart fenced the United States to one-point victories in each.
"That was the exact opposite of the bronze-medal match at Athens (2004 Olympic Games)," said Tim Morehouse, another member of the United States saber team. "At that match we were up, Keeth versus (Russian Stanislav) Pozdnyakov and Pozdnyakov came back and won. This time we were down 35-40 and Keeth came back and won. Keeth hit the equivalent of two grand slams in the bottom of the ninth today. He's been holding down U.S. Fencing for so long. I'm so happy for Keeth."
Rogers was on the 2004 saber team in Athens that finished fourth and out of the medals. He didn't want to see a repeat of those Games.
"I think we were just bracing ourselves," said Rogers. "I have to give it to Keeth. He was a hero today."

The United States softball team blew it. It needed to tank a game in pool play just to show the rest of the world and the International Olympic Committee that the United States can be beat.
Instead, the team mercy-ruled nearly every one of its oppponents. The only game that went the distance was a 8-1 win over Canada in its second game. At least the United States trailed 1-0 in that game and kept it close until the sixth inning. The U.S. scored all eight runs in the final two innings of the game.
The rest of the games have been five-inning mercy rules, shutouts and no-hitters that only solidify the argument that the United States is too good at softball and the rest of the world has no chance of competing.
Unfortunately, Canyon Country's Crystl Bustos and Camarillo's Jessica Mendoza share some of the blame.
The United States set an Olympic record with 12 home runs. The medal rounds haven't even started yet. Bustos and Mendoza have eight of those 12 home runs. They each homered in an 8-0 win over the Netherlands. One of the bright spots in the record-breaking home run performance is that the United States broke a record shared by Australia and Japan. Until today, that was one Olympic softball record the United States didn't have.
Monica Abbott was credited with a perfect game against the Netherlands which ended after five innings. It was the first perfect game by a United States pitcher in the Olympics. If ever there was a bad time to throw a perfect game, this was it. Perhaps the only time that might be worse is in the gold medal game.
"I am really excited," Abbott said after the game against the Netherlands. "I kind of had a goal to come out and throw one when I was named to the team. I was glad I was able to go out and make some good pitches work and I had some great plays made today by the defense with Lovie (Jung), Tairia (Flowers) and obviously Bergy's (Laura Berg) catch in right field. You can't really ask for much more than that and I was just trying to take it one pitch at a time and stay focused for each one."
The United States (6-0) has one more chance to make it look like it is not the behemoth of the Olympics. The U.S. plays China next, the last round robin game before playoffs begin on Wednesday. What better way to show the world that the U.S. is vulnerable than by losing to the host country.
The least the United States can do is make sure it goes the full seven. Keep it close and maybe softball has a chance to be an Olympic sport again.

Upset No. 2 for the United States saber team. Brentwood's Jason Rogers, Keeth Smart and Tim Morehouse defeated the second-seeded Russian team, 45-44, to advance to the gold medal match in team saber fencing.

Brentwood's Jason Rogers helped the United States saber team advance to the semifinals of the Olympic fencing tournament with an upset win over No. 2 seeded Hungary, 45-44, on Sunday.
Keeth Smart and Tim Morehouse will join Rogers against No.3 seeded Russia in the semifinals.