Millar already thinking Beijing

ATHENS, Greece — Far from curbing his enthusiasm, coming within one win of a bronze medal has only increased Ryan Millar's appetite for Olympic competition.

"I'll be back in four years in Beijing, definitely. I'm only 26, I've got a lot of volleyball left in me," said the two-time Olympian and three-time BYU all-American who led the 1999 Cougar team to the collegiate national championship.

Millar and his U.S. teammates fell to Russia in straight games (25-22, 27-25, 25-16) Sunday in the bronze-medal match of the Athens Olympics. After pulling off what was arguably THE comeback of the Games in a Friday quarterfinal win over Greece, the U.S. squad never found its stride against the Russians, a team with two players 7-foot-1. After failing to capitalize on two set points in the second set, the third set was all Russia, with the U.S. quickly dropping behind 7-3 and never challenging.

"Maybe the tank was a little dry," said Millar, who had seven points on five spikes and two blocks in the match. "But you've got to give it up to them. They played better than we did. We were kind of flat."

He called Friday's quarterfinal win over Greece, when America trailed 12-20 in the fourth set and roared from behind to silence the loud partisan crowd of nearly 15,000 people, "probably the best volleyball match I've ever played in. It brought out all the power of volleyball. Maybe if we'd had a big crowd today and they were all against us . . ."

As it was, the Peace and Friendship Olympic Arena was barely a fourth full for the USA-Russia match, which started at 12:30 p.m. on the last day of the Games.

"My back was still hurting a little (from Friday's late match)," said Millar, who came into the Olympic tournament two weeks ago nursing a sprained ankle. "I definitely haven't been 100 percent. I couldn't do much before I got here because of my ankle, and then I had to get right back into playing volleyball."

The ankle gradually improved and Millar's playing time increased. For the tournament, the Palmdale, Calif., native led America in blocks with 18 and was the team's No. 3 scorer with 77 points in eight Olympic matches. The United States went 4-4 overall.

Millar also played in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when the U.S. team finished 11th in the 12-team tournament. At the 1996 Olympics, the team finished ninth. Although medal-less in Athens, the fourth-place finish represents a turnaround for the national team, sparking optimism that U.S. men's volleyball could be headed back to its heyday in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics, when it won three straight medals, two of them gold.

Sunday's match was the last for national team veteran Lloy Ball, who has competed in three Olympics. But for the most part, the young national team is expected to remain intact for the next four years.

"A lot of us are going to be back for Beijing," said Millar. "This leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Maybe we can use it to our advantage in Beijing. Maybe because of coming so close and not quite getting there, we will fight that much harder next time."

In the meantime, Millar will return to his day job — as a professional volleyball player in Italy, where he has played since leaving BYU.

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E-mail: lbenson@desnews.com