RUSSIAN MACHINE ROLLS

When it comes to similarities, the United States and Russia don't appear to have many.

Not even on the volleyball court.

Tuesday night before a crowd of 886 at the Show Me Center, a laid-back American team fell to an intense Russian National team 14-16, 15-9, 16-14, 15-5 in the second exhibition match between the two teams.

The Russians -- ranked No. 1 in the world -- were bigger, stronger and Russian head coach Nikolai Karpol was definitely more high-strung than his American counterpart, U.S head coach Mick Haley. At virtually every timeout -- no matter what the score -- Karpol ripped into his team while team members showed little emotion.

Conversely, Haley encouraged his team to have fun on the court.

"All the other teams are so absolutely programed that they look like they're not having any fun," Haley said. "We don't have to be like the other international teams.

"We need an American style of volleyball that not only is disciplined and well executed, but celebrates our success."

After opening the five-game exhibition series Monday in Memphis with a 3-1 victory, Russia wore down the smaller American team in the fourth game after three competitive games.

"We could have won the match 3-0 with a little luck on our side," said Haley. "They just physically wore us down in the final game. It's the first time we haven't finished a match very strong."

Despite the American loss, the Show Me Center crowd, filled with several area high school and junior high volleyball players, appeared to enjoy the evening. Following the game, both squads remained on the court and signed autographs for the hundreds of youngsters on hand.

"This is just fantastic for volleyball in Southeast Missouri," said Southeast Otahkian head volleyball coach Cindy Gannon. "To see the high school and junior high students out and know they had the opportunity to see this caliber of volleyball ... it's just wonderful."

The caliber of play was definitely a step above anything ever seen in this area. Despite fielding one of the top volleyball programs in the Ohio Valley Conference on a yearly basis, Gannon was still overwhelmed by the talent she saw on the court.

"The power of the Russian team was just unbelievable to me," Gannon said. "This is a much faster-paced game; it's harder hitting. It is truly the elite volleyball of the world."

Russia, which towered over the American squad, was led by 6-foot-4 Lena Godina (36 kills) and 6-3 two-time Olympian Evgenia Artamonova (19 kills, 15 digs). Allison Weston, one of the United States' tallest players at 6-1, totaled 37 kills. Karrie Downey, a 5-11 outside hitter, added 22 kills.

"We're not one of the big teams (internationally)," said Haley. "We're right in the middle, but we're looking for more height."

Trailing 14-8 in the opening game, the U.S. fought off three Russian game points to eventually come back and win the opening game 16-14.

Said Haley: "We came back to win the first game and that's pretty much unheard of against a good Russian team."

Trailing 9-4 in the second game, the Russians reeled off the next 11 points to even the match at 1-1.

The U.S. led 14-12 in the third game, but squandered four game points as the Russians roared back to take a 2-1 advantage. The Russians were never threatened in the final game.