Here comes the measuring stick for the U.S. women’s indoor volleyball national team.   Ranked No. 4 in the world, the U.S. will face top-ranked Brazil in a three-game exhibition series this week in Colorado Springs, a tune-up for the World Grand Prix and a possible preview of the Beijing Games in August.   Matches are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Olympic Training Center and 7 p.m. Saturday at Clune Arena. Tickets start at $12 and can be purchased at goairforcefalcons.com or by calling 472-1895.   The U.S. and Brazil have met three times in major tournaments the past four years.   Brazil won a 3-2 decision over the U.S. at the 2004 Athens Games, where it finished fourth and the Americans took fifth. Brazil blanked the U.S. at the 2006 world championships, where it was second and the Americans were ninth. The U.S. beat Brazil 3-2 at the 2007 World Cup, where it was third and Brazil was second.   “Brazil has so much ball control,” U.S. coach “Jenny” Lang Ping said. “They play really fast like Asian teams, but they are physically stronger than Asian teams. And they have more second-line hitting. We have to learn from them.”   Both teams are expected to compete in the World Grand Prix, a 12-nation tournament that runs from June 20 to July 13 with stops in Japan, Poland and Taiwan. At the 2007 event, Brazil was fifth and the U.S. was eighth.   The U.S. women’s national team, based at the OTC, contains 29 players, including three-time Olympian Danielle Scott-Arruda and two-time Olympians Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Heather Bown, Stacy Sykora and Logan Tom. The roster for Beijing is capped at 12 players.   Springs boxers triumph    Colorado Springs boxers Christopher Downs, Rau’shee Warren and Deontay Wilder won bouts last weekend against the Dominican Republic in Chattanooga, Tenn. Warren and Wilder will fight in Beijing.   Judo trials    Eight OTC residents will compete at the U.S. Olympic judo trials Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas. The field consists of Paola Genao-Butler, Michelle Hagerty, Kirk Hoffmann, Josh O’Neil, Christal Ransom, Ryan Reser, Jeff Sato and Taylor Takata.   Women’s hoops trials    The USA Basketball women’s under-18 national team trials will be held Monday through Wednesday at the OTC, with 35 players vying for 12 spots. The FIBA Americas U18 Championship is July 23-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.   Ice hockey camp    The USA Hockey women’s national performance evaluation camp will be held Monday through Saturday in Colorado Springs. The women’s national team won its second world title in April.   Figure skating camp    Ten Broadmoor Skating Club members will participate in the U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp, which begins Friday in Colorado Springs. The group features men’s skaters Jeremy Abbott, Alexe Gilles and Brandon Mroz; women’s skater Rachael Flatt; and pairs Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss and Tiffany Vise and Derek Trent.    

Grace Droog stands inside her home Wednesday in Sioux Center, Iowa. In this part of the country, separating religion from politics is folly. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS