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Rio de Janeiro • David Lee has a gold medal at home. He's gutted it out with an Olympic championship team before. He's stood center stage as the National Anthem echoed throughout an arena. Eight years ago in Beijing, Lee was part of last U.S. men's volleyball team to medal.

Fast-forward to these 2016 Rio Olympics, and it's Lee — the elder statesman, the team captain, the stabilizer of a group with eight first-time Olympians — who believes this team has what it takes to return to a gold-medal match.

"When the pressure's on this team, when our backs are against the wall, this team's great," he said. "That's why I think we are a good playoff team. When you know it's win-or-go-home, this is when this team competes at its best level."

Zero arguments here.

Team USA is on to the Olympic semifinal round after dismantling Poland 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) Wednesday at The Maracanãzinho. That 0-2 start is nothing more than a footnote. The U.S. will play Italy in Friday's semifinals. The Italians, who beat the U.S. in pool play, advanced after sweeping Iran 3-0.

The U.S., as former BYU All-American Taylor Sander explained, "had to change something," following the two losses. There were player-only meetings. There were heart-to-hearts aplenty.

The elimination round started early for this young group of Americans, playing No. 1-seeded Brazil on its home court in a must-win match at the end of group play to start its march to the knockout round. Now on the heels of another dominant performance in a real elimination match, Sander said his team is eager for more.

"Our team is pretty tough," he said. "It's pretty amazing how tough we've been. We've played so many good teams, and played really well against them, so we just want to keep that going."

It was a perfectly-placed kill by outside hitter Aaron Russell on match point that sealed the spot in the semifinals. The U.S. jumped out to an early lead in the third set and when the Poles crept closer, the Americans put more distance between them. At the net to slam the ball to the floor, Russell was leaning a bit before connecting.

"Amazing feeling," said Russell, who lead Team USA with 15 points.

When the Americans were in need of a boost in the second set, it was Sander who willed the U.S. into contention. Trailing by as many as five points midway through the set, the former Cougar brought the U.S. even at 19-all with an ace that caught Poland off guard. He followed with another ace, this time hit with so much force that it deflected off a Polish player and landed on the scorer's table.

Sander followed that with a kill from the back row to put the U.S. up 22-20. On set point, Poland faulted by touching the net, completing an impressive 25-22 comeback by the U.S.

Sander finished with 11 points, nine of which were kills. Russell, Sander and outside hitter Matt Anderson led the U.S. to its first-set victory. Anderson had six points in the opening set and 11 overall.

"We have so much confidence," Sander said. "I don't know why."

Timely win streaks when you have zero wiggle room helps. And Team USA is believing. Still elated after the win, Russell toed the line of not forgetting those early struggles in Brazil.

"We're only part of the way there," he said.

Each night, Russell and his teammates have tuned into various Olympic events to watch fellow American athletes go for gold. They've rooted for Simone Biles, Michael Phelps and others from the comfort of their own quarters. One more win and the Team USA will find themselves in the same position as Rio's household names.

"If we continue to play with this kind of heart, this kind of energy and this kind of focus, I think that we can definitely go a long way," Russell said.

Twitter: @chriskamrani —

Story lines

R Team USA def. Poland 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) as former BYU star Taylor Sander has 11 points and nine kills.

• Outside hitter Aaron Russell has a game-high 15 points.

• Team USA has won four straight matches since its 0-2 start.