Olympics: U.S. volleyball squad has blue hue

Olympics: U.S. volleyball squad has blue hue

Five members of the United States men's Olympic volleyball team would love to party like it's 1999.

Not that they're big favorites of the Prince pop hit of the 1980s. Rather, that was the year the five enjoyed the spoils of a champion as members of the first BYU men's volleyball team to claim an NCAA crown.

And the five would love to repeat similar successes at a higher international level this summer at the Beijing Olympics.

The U.S. quintet include former BYU players Ryan Millar and Rich Lambourne, Cougar head coach Carl McGown, assistant coach Hugh McCutcheon and volunteer assistant Rob Browning — all a part of the Cougars' inaugural NCAA championship season.

Nearly 10 years later, the roles have changed some — Millar is still manning the middle-blocker position, while Lambourne has had to move from playing outside hitter in college to the defensive-minded libero's spot in order to make the Olympic team.

Also, McGown is now assisting McCutcheon — the latter in his third season as head coach of Team USA and the former helping as a U.S. scout. And Browning, who is the women's volleyball coach at St. Mary's College in California, serves as team leader — the program's equivalent of a director of operations or team liaison during the Games.

"And philosophically, our team is still very similar — that's also good for us with the carryover, with a little bit of a fresher look."

And McGown's involvement as program adviser and Olympics scout is a bonus.

"It's always good to have him and his knowledge of the game around," Lambourne said.

The Americans come into the Beijing Olympics as the world's third-ranked team, behind Brazil and Russia and just ahead of Bulgaria. But Millar admits that recent international successes pale in comparison to the expectations accompanying the current Summer Games spotlight.

"The Olympics are pretty much the pinnacle of what you're trying to achieve every quad (four-year period)," he said, adding "it's the tournament that everybody looks at — it's definitely the one where the whole world is watching.

The United States enjoys a favorable draw, with its Olympic pool including Bulgaria, host China, Venezuela, Japan and Italy.

"The other pool is tougher," said Millar of that six-squad grouping, which includes higher-ranked Brazil and Russia. "But that means our cross-over games will be all the more difficult."