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Rio de Janeiro • Wiggle room? It's quickly vanishing.

The U.S. men's volleyball team fell to 0-2 in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro Tuesday after losing to Italy 3-1 (26-28, 25-20, 23-25, 23-25) two days after being swept in its Brazilian opener against Canada. The sky-high aspirations of medal round are looking more and more difficult after dropping the first two outings and with what team awaits next.

On Thursday night, the Americans face rival hosts and top-ranked Brazil at the famed indoor volleyball facility, the Maracanãzinho.

Former BYU star and U.S. outside hitter Taylor Sander contributed 12 points, as well as two aces, after struggling in his Olympic debut against Canada. Two-time Olympian Matt Anderson chipped in 14 points of his own. Outside hitter Aaron Russell led all scorers with 22 points on 19 successful kills and two aces.

"They were way better tonight [than against Canada on Sunday]," U.S. coach John Speraw said of his team. "I thought we were close. This is our journey. It is what it is. This is the team. This is what we signed up for. We knew what we were getting into four years ago and here we are. It's a tough journey."

He ain't kidding.

In a dramatic, back-and-forth first set, the Italians overcame several U.S. rallies to get in the driver's seat. Italy reached set point 24-22, but saw the score suddenly knotted 24-24. On the fifth set point of the match for Italy, Russell's back-row kill was reversed when he was whistled for a fault. A challenge by Italy showed that his toe did indeed cross the line.

After responding with a 25-20 win in the second set — their first of these Olympics — the Italians rallied to make sure the U.S. wouldn't take a lead in the match. Italy closed out the third set after the match was tied 18-18. In the fourth and final set, the Italians did much of the same in the clutch after the U.S. brought itself even at 21-21.

The third game of pool play looms large now. In Olympic round robin format, the U.S. are guaranteed matches against Brazil, France and Mexico. The 0-2 hole will be difficult to climb out of. The top four teams in each pool advance to quarterfinal play. A draw is made to determine the remaining quarterfinalists.