The USA men's indoor volleyball team's chances of defending its Olympic gold medal were crushed Wednesday, as the squad lost to Italy 28-26, 25-20, 25-20 in the quarterfinals. The United States, which featured Penn State alum Matthew Anderson, finished the tournament with a 4-2 overall record, while the Italians move on to face Brazil in Friday's semifinals.
The sweep of USA, which entered the games as the No. 5-ranked team, did come has a bit of a shock as Italy was the last team to qualify in Group A pool-play.
The United States had command of the game only in the first set, but a rally from Italy forced a 18-18 tie. USA had a handful of set points, but couldn't close out the set and Italy rallied for the 1-0 lead.
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