Friday, August 22^nd

Men’s Volleyball—SEMIFINAL

After a dominant presence in pool play and in the quarterfinals, the USA Men’s Volleyball team (and its three Long Beach State grads) will face Russia in the medal round.  If they win, they’re on to the gold medal match; lost, and they’ll play for the bronze.  NBC, 12:30am.

Men’s Water Polo—SEMIFINAL

Here we go again!  The US team (and its five—count ’em, five Long Beach high school grads) will get another crack at Serbia tonight, the only team to defeat them in these Olympics, in a 4-2 defensive struggle.  Should they beat Serbia, they’ll advance to the gold medal rounds; if they lost, they’ll play for the bronze.  Should they be able to defy all pre-Olympics expectations, they’ll make the USA the first country in history to medal in both women’s and men’s water polo (after the women’s team took Silver earlier this week).  LIVE ONLINE, 4:40am. May be rebroadcast later in the day on television, but it’s not scheduled—check back here in the morning if it’s not on television, we’ll keep you up to date!

Saturday, August 23^rd

Women’s Volleyball—GOLD MEDAL MATCH

For the first time in 24 years, the USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball team, including Long Beach State grads Danielle Scott-Arruda and Tayyiba Haneef-Park, will be playing for a gold medal.  Their competition will be fierce, as they face top-ranked Brazil, who has yet to lose a set in Olympic play.  Still, the US team has played to their opponents’ level all tournament, for better and worse, so anything could happen.  The game will be shown on tape delay sometime during the Saturday daytime block, but will be actually played at five in the morning, so if you want to watch live, avoid the news until you see it!  NBC, 9am-5pm.