Like the Cuba victory, the other two quarterfinal matches needed to go only three sets, as Brazil beat Japan and China shut out Russia.

Brazil and China will meet in Thursday's other semifinal, with the bronze- and gold-medal matches set for Saturday.

Getting to the semifinals keeps the United States' medal hopes alive. But as the Americans learned in the 2000 Sydney Games, back-to-back losses for a semifinalist means watching one's opponent in the final match walk away with a medal, albeit a bronze one.

In Sydney, the U.S. reached the semis, only to falter there and then again in the bronze-medal match to Korea.

"I think in Sydney, we gave it our all there," said Tom, who made her Olympic debut there in 2000. "We'll do the same here. We've got the same fighting spirit."

It's the same spirit that was on display Tuesday night against Italy, turning the 2-1 deficit into the five-set triumph.

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E-mail: taylor@desnews.com