Lloy Ball joined swimmers Sharon Wichman-Jones (1968) and Matt Vogel (1976) as Fort Wayne's only Olympic gold medal winners this morning when the U.S. men's volleyball team beat Brazil 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 in Beijing. Ball, 36, was playing in his fourth Olympics.

"Lloy Ball, Olympic gold medal winner," Ball answered the phone two hours after the match.

The match will be telecast on NBC tonight during primetime.

The victory ends a tumultuous tournament for the Americans. Before the team even played a match, coach Hugh McCutcheon's father-in-law was killed and his mother-in-law was severely injured when they were attacked by a man using a knife the day the Olympics opened. McCutcheon missed his team's first three matches, but came back to help them win the championship.

After hugging his assistants at the end of the match, McCutcheon buried his head in his hands and walked off the court, according to the Associated Press. When he walked back onto the court, he hugged Ball.

"It hit everybody a little bit afterwards," Ball said. "It was an underlying thing the whole tournament, and it was nice to have the picture with him holding one of the medals. The guys blocked it out as much as possible, but this win for him hopefully puts a positive light on a horrific situation for everyone and his family. It would have been the worst thing possble for us not to give our best effort under those circumstances. The guys put it all in the line."

As they did several times in their bigger matches during the Olympics, the Americans fell behind early and then regrouped.

"I thought we'd come out a little looser, but I could tell it was a little different because we weren't just happy to be there," Ball said. "We all wanted a gold medal very badly and it adds to a little anxiousness. I don't think it was our best match, but I think they felt more pressure than we did. When we started coming back, all of a sudden their eyes were getting real big.

"We just kind of kept grinding it out. It wasn't real pretty. It's not luck, but things were going our way. All the hard work and effort the guys put in every day culminated in this win."

Ball finished with 90 assists and 10 digs as the U.S. hit 42 percent offensively compared to 37 percent for the Brazilians, who were the defending Olympic champions.

"I can't tell you how many people have come up to us and congratulated us and talked about how happy they were for us," said Ball's father Arnie, coach of the IPFW men's volleyball team. "This is finally the payoff. The medal is heavy, and let me tell you, when they raise your flag and play the anthem, it's an amazing moment."