2016 Olympic results: United States blows lead to Italy in men’s volleyball semifinal

The U.S. men’s volleyball team will miss out on its chance at gold after losing to Italy in the Olympic semifinals on Friday. Italy will now meet the winner of Friday night’s Brazil-Russia match for the gold medal, while the U.S. will play the loser for bronze on Sunday.

The Americans seemed to be on their way to victory against Italy before faltering late in the match. They were leading, 22-19, in the fourth set while already up two sets to one. All they needed to do was win three more points and their spot in the final was clinched.

Instead, Italy went on a monster rally to take the fourth set, led by server Ivan Zaytsev. He helped the Italians win six consecutive points to tie the match at two sets apiece, then pushed the team to a dominant 15-9 fifth set for the win. Even after Italy had some trouble early in the fifth set with its serves, it was able to settle back down and put the match away.

It’s a disappointing performance for the U.S., which won gold in 2008 but failed to reach the podium in 2012. A win on Sunday night would at least give the Americans bronze, but given how close they were to securing gold or silver, it has to sting a little bit knowing what’s on the line instead. Italy, meanwhile, is showing that it remains one of the world’s best teams. They’ve beat the U.S. twice in Rio and now have men’s volleyball medals in four of the past five Olympics.

The U.S. has had its share of ups and downs in Rio. The team went 3-2 in group play after losing back-to-back games to Italy and Canada to start the Games, then rolled off four straight wins, including a 3-0 victory over Poland in the quarterfinals. Italy has been the spoiler in these Games, though, and now the Americans will have to go for bronze.