VOLLEYBALL / WORLD LEAGUE PLAYOFFS : Brazil Sweeps Past the U.S. at Forum

The United States didn’t need to win Sunday night to qualify for the men’s World League volleyball final four, but a victory would have provided momentum going into the Olympics.

The United States, which has won the past two consecutive Olympic gold medals, lost to Brazil, 15-11, 15-12, 15-13, before 5,589 at the Forum on Sunday.

The United States clinched a spot in the World League final four with a three-game victory over Brazil in San Diego on Friday. A victory Sunday, however, would have enabled it to avoid playing a semifinal-round match against powerful Italy, which is 7-1 in playoffs.

The final four will be held after the Olympics, in Genoa, Italy, on Sept. 4-6. Italy is seeded first for the final four, followed by Cuba, the Netherlands and the United States.

The United States trailed for most of the first two games, then took an 8-1 lead in the thirdgame. But Brazil went on a 9-3 run to bring the score to 11-10.

Brazil served four match points before Giovane Gavio hit through the block of Bryan Ivie and Bob Ctvrtlik for the victory.

Gavio led all attackers with 30 kills and also had four blocks. Brazil (10-6, 3-5 in playoffs) outblocked the United States, 20-11.

“Going into this weekend, we wanted to make sure we qualified for the final four,” U.S. Coach Fred Sturm said.

The United States (11-5, 4-4 in playoffs) was led by Ivie’s 29 kills. Steve Timmons, voted the most valuable U.S. player of the game, added 20.

The United States has lost five of its past seven matches, including two last week to Holland in the first round of the World League playoffs.