The Olympic gold dream of four U.S. men’s volleyball players with Hawaii ties came to an end in a semifinal stunner against Poland on Wednesday, but they still have an opportunity to medal in the Paris Games.

The fourth-ranked U.S. dropped the match, 25-23, 25-27, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13, after taking a 2-1 sets lead on top-ranked Poland.

Now it will face Italy for the bronze at 4 a.m. Hawaii time Friday. Italy lost to host France in straight sets Wednesday.

“It’s physically and mentally exhausting,” libero Erik Shoji told USA Volleyball of the task at hand. “We have to come back and play in two days. We want to be fighting for a gold and that sucks, but bronze is important and we’re going to do everything we can to win that one.”

It’s an opportunity for a second career bronze for two Hawaii natives, setter Micah Christenson (Kamehameha, USC) and Shoji (Punahou, Stanford). They medaled at the Rio 2016 Games.

Backup setter Micah Ma‘a (Punahou, UCLA) and middle Taylor Averill (University of Hawaii) are the others on the 12-man roster with Hawaii ties and are going for their first medal.

Shoji led the U.S. with 10 digs against Poland. Averill had five kills on seven swings with two blocks and an ace. Christenson supplied seven digs.

Wilfredo Leon led Poland with 22 kills, two blocks and two aces. Poland led for nearly all of Set 5, including an 8-5 advantage when the teams switched sides. It earned four match points and the U.S. saved two before Leon put the match away with a kill.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.