Tragedy lingers as U.S. volleyball keeps winning

Instead, he talked about how he brought his team down Wednesday from the nervous high that threatened to end their Olympics three games too early.

“In the huddle, I told them they were trying to force great plays. I told them to concentrate on making good plays,” he said. “Let’s forget about the goal and concentrate on the process.”

They listened because he always seems to know. Before McCutcheon took over as national coach after the 2004 Games, the team had been coached by Doug Beal, an outstanding analyst and technician. McCutcheon, who was an assistant under Beal, is more of a psychologist.

“He knows how to pull our strings,” veteran team member Lloy Ball said. “He knows how to motivate guys.”

McCutcheon also knows how to get them to focus on what’s important right now, like making those good plays and not panicking when the opponents get a little run going.

They needed that ability Wednesday in the deciding 15-point fifth set. After tying it at 4-4, the Americans watched Serbia rack up three straight points for a 7-4 lead. After a timeout, the Americans tied it before falling behind by two again. They ripped off three points, let the Serbs tie it at 10-10, and then ran away with the game, thanks in large part to the serving of Reid Priddy and Clayton Stanley, two of the best servers in the world.

They came into the Olympics as the third-ranked team in the world. Russia, their next opponent, is ranked second. The top-ranked team, Brazil, is also in the medal round.

So now the mental game begins again. “We’re trying not to think of a medal,” Salmon said. And McCutcheon is trying not to think of his loss.

They are one of the great stories of the game, a human drama and a sports drama wrapped up together, the one indistinguishable from the other. The players want to win for McCutcheon. He wants them to win for themselves and their country.

That’s what he’s thinking about. His wife and his in-laws must spend the game locked in that room in his mind.

"It's just volleyball," McCutcheon said. Then he added: “The other stuff’s the other stuff.” He left after that. There was nothing more to say.

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