BEIJING • A long, stressful, emotional journey for Hugh McCutcheon almost ended.

The U.S. men’s indoor volleyball team rallied to beat Serbia 3-2 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals of the Beijing Games, less than two weeks after its affable coach’s father-in-law was murdered and his mother-in-law was nearly killed at a local tourist site.

In a 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12 victory, the No. 3 Americans avoided a major upset, ran their Olympic winning streak to six games and stayed in contention for their first gold medal in 20 years.

“These guys have got composure and character,” said McCutcheon, whose team will play No. 2 Russia in Friday’s semifinals. “It’s not their first rodeo. They’ve been here a bunch. We’re just going to keep grinding it out. We can always find ways to win.”

A day after the Opening Ceremony, a knife-wielding Chinese man attacked McCutcheon’s in-laws, Todd and Barbara Bachman, while they were visiting the Drum Tower, then jumped 130 feet to his death off a balcony.

Todd, 62, died of knife wounds, and Barbara, also 62, almost didn’t make it, needing eight hours of surgery for multiple lacerations. Barbara is talking and walking short distances at a Minnesota hospital, with help from her three daughters, including Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, a 2004 Olympic volleyball player.

McCutcheon, 38, missed wins over No. 4 Bulgaria, No. 10 Italy and No. 20 Venezuela as assistant Ron Larsen served as coach. He returned for victories against No. 11 Japan and No. 21 China, and the U.S. raised eyebrows by finishing pool play undefeated.

“On top of the tragedy that happened with the attacker, another tragedy would have been if Hugh would have been taken away from this whole experience,” libero Rich Lambourne said. “I’m happy that’s not the case. We’re going to do our best to do everything he wants us to do out here.”

The past four years, McCutcheon, partly responsible for the program’s 2006 move from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to Anaheim, Calif., has stressed team play, discipline and patience.

Setter Lloy Ball called McCutcheon “our fearless leader, our captain, our general. … Twelve guys, 12 different characters, 12 different emotions. Hugh has a pretty good beat on all of them. He knows how to motivate guys in ways other coaches hadn’t in the past.”

Said middle blocker Ryan Millar: “He’s very good at the psychological part of the game. A lot of teams get down on themselves. We can let it roll off our backs a little bit and go to the next play instead of thinking about what has happened.”

McCutcheon maintains he’s staying strong in the grieving process.

“I’m not saying every day is a wonderful day,” he said. “But when I’m here and I’m in the gym with the guys, we’re doing fine. We’re OK.”

Asked how much he wants a gold for McCutcheon’s family, Millar said, “It would be a great tribute. I would think that just what we’ve accomplished already, they’re pretty happy with what we’re doing. We’re playing our hearts out for them.”-CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazettedev.gazette.com. Check out our Olympics blog at gazetteolympics.freedomblogging.com

US volleyball player Lloy Ball celebrates a point in the second game of the US team’s 3-2 win over Serbia in quarterfinal volleyball action Wednesday, August 20, 2008, at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Photo by The Gazette, Mark Reis

MARK REIS