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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Leaning over, hands on her knees and cheering at every chance, injured U.S. star Foluke Akinradewo could only watch. The top-ranked Americans had fought back to force a fifth set against Serbia before falling short -- short of the gold-medal goal that had driven her and others back to the national team for one more Olympic cycle.Serbias players cried in triumph after the biggest win in their programs history. They reached the Rio de Janeiro championship, guaranteeing the countrys first womens volleyball medal after a 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13 victory.Serbia plays Saturday night against China, a four-set winner over the Netherlands. China needed six set points to take the opening frame on the way to a hard-fought 27-25, 23-25, 29-27, 25-23.The American coaches were scouting the thriller.Right now, this loss is deeply disappointing. It cuts deep. Its very painful, and thats OK, U.S. coach Karch Kiraly said. When you care that much, its going to. Were going to process that some, we get some time to grieve. We signed up to do difficult things with USA and were going to come back harder the next 48 hours to fight for the bronze medal.Akinradewos teammates took over after she was sidelined by an apparent left knee injury late in the opening set after beginning the match brilliantly. She tried to give it a go, but the leg didnt let her. Akinradewo will undergo tests to determine whether she might play Saturday.It was tough when Foluke went down. I think we were a little distracted there for a second because we care so much for her, captain Christa Dietzen said, briefly becoming emotional. Obviously we wanted to turn this around, for her, for everybody thats part of this program. We have a chance in the next 48 hours to do so.Akinradewo stood next to Kiraly during timeouts, shaking her head and yelling, Come on!Kiraly switched his lineup in her absence, then switched it again. Serbia kept pounding, digging out balls, leaping for blocks and serving with precision.The Americans led 12-10 in the fifth set when Karsta Lowe served into the net, then Milena Rasic answered with an ace and U.S. middle blocker Rachael Adams also netted her serve.Its amazing. Theres no words to describe really this feeling, Serbias Tijana Malesevic said. I think we need more time to be aware of what we did, but we gave our heart. We gave everything what we could, what we know, like everything -- like each player, staff, coaches. We made it. This is history. We wrote history for Serbia, for volleyball federation, for the world.Lowe came through with her powerful left arm, Dietzen and Adams blocked masterfully as Kayla Banwarth provided her signature reliable passing, but the Americans (6-1) couldnt close it out with their star middle blocker down.The Americans are knocked out of title contention, and two-time defending Olympic champion Brazil was ousted in a stunning five-setter by China in the quarterfinals. That means Serbia will face a young Chinese squad led by former U.S. coach Jenny Lang Ping -- she raised her arms in the air and then sighed in relief as her players hugged her.The U.S. will take on a determined Dutch team back in the Olympics for the first time in 20 years.Both of those teams also advanced out of the preliminary pool with the U.S. and Serbia, which had lost a four-setter last week to the Americans.But the sixth-ranked Serbians have surprised the U.S. on the big stage before -- taking a five-set win a year ago at the World Cup in Japan, helping force the Americans into a second-chance qualifier at Lincoln, Nebraska, in January.It took contributions from each woman on the U.S. 12-player roster to get back into the match.Our team has a great culture and dynamic. Were here for each other, outside hitter Jordan Larson said. Thats whats going to show and thats whats going to carry us through.Now, the Americans plan to take the example from beach stars Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, who lost in the semifinals to Brazil before bouncing back for bronze.Kiraly, the most decorated player of his generation as the only person with gold medals in beach and indoor volleyball, hurt to his core after this one. Thats how much he loves his team, the players who are here and so many who arent.The plan wont change: He knows that elusive gold is still out there to be had, one day.One thing that we would like to accomplish, and its not going to happen this month, Kiraly said. I dont know if itll happen four years from now or 52 years from now, but our job is to make an Olympic gold medal happen at some point for the history of the U.S. program. ... The fight continues. 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BALTIMORE -- All that has transpired for the Baltimore Ravens this month has put them in position for, as safety Eric Weddle put it, A December to Remember.The Ravens followed a winless October with a 3-1 November, capped by a 19-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.Baltimore (6-5) climbed back into a tie with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North with five games to go.We have to win every game, we feel, this last stretch, Weddle said.The Bengals (3-7-1) feel the same way. The difference is, that might not be good enough to get them into the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.We have been able to control it ourselves. Now we need help, coach Marvin Lewis said.After spending five straight Decembers fighting for playoff position, Cincinnati is now in a situation where one more loss may end its postseason hopes.It starts to wear on you, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said. Im a winner. Ive never been in this situation. But at the end of the day, when youre a competitor you keep competing, especially when your back is against the wall.Some things we learned about the Ravens and Bengals on Sunday:PERFECT AND IMPERFECT: Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has been perfect in 11 games this year. After connecting from 52, 57 , 54 and 36 yards, Tucker is 27 for 27 and has made all 15 of his conversion attempts.It was the 11th time Tucker has kicked at least four field goals in a game. Baltimore is 10-1 when that happens.To be on this kind of roll is good, but it doesnt end today, Tucker said. Hopefully this is something that would help carry our team all the way to the playoffs.Tuckers counterpart Sunday, Cincinnatis Mike Nugent, missed his third straight extra point try (over two games) and has misfired on four of 23 conversion attempts this year.TIPPING HIS HAND: A handful of Andy Daltons 22 incompletions came when Ravens defenders tipped his passes at the line of scrimmage, sending spirals everywhere but toward their intended targets.Since Dalton stands 6-foot-2, it seemed like a concerted effort by the Baltimore defense to simply reach for the ball instead of applying an all-out rush.Id have to watch (film), but my guess is they werent rushing as much, just putting their hands up, Dalton said.Dalton wass sacked three times and lost two fumbles.dddddddddddd In his defense, he played without injured wide receiver A.J. Green and running back Giovani Bernard and was backed by a running game that could muster only 64 yards on 20 attempts.ELVIS IN THE BUILDING: The return of Elvis Dumervil was a big factor in Baltimores strong defensive effort.Playing in his third game of the season and for the first time in five weeks, the Ravens sack specialist stripped Dalton of the ball with just over a minute left to seal the victory.It was a great start, Dumervil said. Im still a little rusty, but Im fine-tuning things and hopefully I can be peaking at the right time.The road back from foot surgery has been difficult for the five-time Pro Bowl linebacker. Dumervil missed the first three games of the season before seeing action in back-to-back games in early October. That was it until Sunday.For him to play so well is satisfying for him, Im sure, coach John Harbaugh said, but its really satisfying for me and everyone else.MISSING MAN FORMATION: With Bernard (ACL) out for the season and Green (hamstring) sidelined, the Bengals offense looked elsewhere for production. Halfback Rex Burkhead averaged 5.8 yards on each of his five carries against the NFLs top rushing defense, and wide receiver Tyler Boyd made five catches for 62 yards.It felt good to get out there, get your hand on the ball and get some touches, Burkhead said. I feel like I could have played better. Im never satisfied. I always look for ways to improve.KOCHS BIG DAY: Tucker wasnt the only special teams star for the Ravens. Punter Sam Koch averaged 44.4 yards per kick and dropped four of his five punts inside the 20.He also ran the clock out on the final play, prancing around in the end zone while his teammates literally held off the Cincinnati rush.Koch eventually ran out of the end zone for a safety. There were multiple Ravens holding on the play -- intentionally -- because a game can end on a play that features an offensive infraction.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL. ' ' '