OLYMPICS VOLLEYBALL: THIRD GAMES IN ROW SANS MEDAL.

Byline: Mirjam Swanson Staff Writer

ATHENS, Greece - The U.S. men's volleyball team raised the issue of the haves vs. have-nots Sunday.

When it left the court it did not have a medal for the third consecutive Olympics after losing 25-22, 27-25, 25-16 to Russia in the third-place match in front of 7,650 fans at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

But the Americans did have some hope that by reaching a medal match, it showed they are ready to get the United States back among the elite international teams.

``I think we showed we're committed to the sport,'' said outside hitter Reid Priddy, a former star at Loyola Marymount.

``Now, we need people to be committed to us.''

According to several members of the American team, that would entail someone - within or outside of the volleyball community - coming forward to help U.S. players relocate back to Southern California.

Until 1997, the national program trained in San Diego. Since then, it has based its training at the United States Olympic headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. Those involved said they see a correlation between the move and the eight-match losing streak the United States took into the Athens Games.

What's the connection? The altitude.

``Playing at altitude makes the ball lighter and act differently,'' Priddy said.

``If you take any other sports - like golf - and when you're used to playing at altitude, and then have to go compete at a world-class level at sea level, it's going to be hard.''

U.S. Olympic coach Doug Beal, who announced Sunday that Athens was his fourth and final Olympics, said there is a measurable 10- to 15-percent difference in the distance of a ball's trajectory between altitudes.

``It's absolutely more difficult to become highly skilled as a server and passer,'' Beal said. ``A ball that's out (of bounds) at elevation is in at sea level.''

Sea-level Southern California remains an attractive alternative because it is as much a volleyball hotbed as anywhere in the nation, especially at the college level, and because most of the team has ties to the region.

Beal said he has had ``informal discussions'' with an individual whom he would not identify about moving the team's training facility to Anaheim, although ``it's not just a matter of someone saying, 'Hey, we'd like you to come train at our facility.' ''

In Colorado, where players train when they're not playing professionally in Europe from spring through early summer, a broad Olympic support system is in place that covers weight rooms to dorms. There also are a handful of players who have bought homes in the area.

Veteran Lloy Ball, who also made his final Olympic appearance Sunday, said there is too much talk about where the team trains.

``Does the ball move differently in Colorado Springs than Athens? Yeah. But so what?'' Ball said. ``I think a lot of times, we use that as an excuse, and I think Colorado Springs is an amazing place.''

Priddy, on the other hand, said where the team is based tends to have a bearing on whether players, including him, continue to play indoors or head to the beach.

But no one would go as far as to specifically blame the United States' practice locale for Sunday's defeat, the second consecutive match the United States was swept. Brazil beat the U.S. team 25-16, 26-17, 25-23 on Friday to advance to Sunday's gold-medal match, in which they defeated Italy 25-15, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22. ``(The Russians) just played better than us,'' Palmdale's Ryan Millar said. ``They out-passed us and out-served us, and when that happens, you lose.''

Mirjam Swanson, [phone]

mirjam.swanson(at)sbsun.com

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Photo:

Russia's Sergey Baranov (4) spikes the ball past American Kevin Barnett during their bronze-medal match.

Armando Franca/Associated Press