Hansen far from set with Team USA

There is no Olympic trinket, no tiny flag emblazoned with those trademark five rings, no poster with a motivational phrase in big letters to remind Kevin Hansen of his dream. For the former Corona del Mar High two-sport standout, now competing for one of 12 spots on the U.S. men’s national volleyball team, the alarm clock is enough to remind him that his four-year Olympic quest has been a daily grind.

That journey began in 2005, after a stellar career at Stanford, where he was a two-time All-American. Joining the national team soon after graduation, the self-effacing Hansen struggled early with new-guy syndrome.

“In the beginning, my confidence level was pretty low,” said Hansen, who starred in basketball and was the CIF Southern Section Division I Player of the Year in volleyball as a senior at CdM in 2000. “I felt like I had to prove myself to some of the veteran guys who may have been skeptical about the young guy.”

Hansen, battling for a backup role behind Team USA starting setter Lloy Ball, said it wasn’t until he played well with extended time last summer that he began to feel more comfortable exerting the leadership that is considered necessary from the setter position.

Yet just more than a month until the 12-man U.S. roster is finalized for the Summer Games in Beijing, China, where men’s volleyball begins Aug. 8 and 9, Hansen is still on edge, precisely where coaches and national team administrators like to keep most of their players.

“They don’t want to tell guys ‘You’re going to the Olympics,’ because they don’t want guys to get passive and not stay motivated to train,” Hansen said. “The deadline for turning in the final roster is July 1. I can’t say for sure whether that position is mine.”

So, four years since he first joined the national team, he is a 26-year-old veteran, seemingly as equally close to realizing his Olympic dream as he is of walking away from the game.

“I can’t say whether I’d be finished after the Olympics, or if I’d be willing to play another eight years,” Hansen said. “I love playing volleyball and it has been my dream to make the Olympics since I started playing about 15 years ago. If that happens, maybe I’ll re-assess what I want to do.”

And if it doesn’t happen? Hansen prefers to remain positive, using his experience and solid outings such as Tuesday night’s 19-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-21, 15-12 exhibition victory over Argentina at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center as reason to not only hope, but believe in his chances to make the final roster.

Playing the entire match in place of the absent Ball, Hansen collected 47 assists, was in on six blocks and produced his lone kill, on a dump, to give his team a 7-5 advantage in the deciding game.

A veteran of international professional leagues — he has played in Portugal, Greece and, just this year, France — he said the prospect of a fairly lucrative contract would likely lure him into another professional season abroad in 2009.

And while he still enjoys competing and playing the game, his love for it has been surpassed by the constant sacrifices and demands of travel, training and the tight-rope walk for job security.

“It’s definitely a different mentality than I had in college,” Hansen said. “The matches are still a blast, but it’s a tough life. It wears on your body and it wears on you mentally. It can be lonely sometimes overseas and it’s tough to keep in contact with your friends and your family at home. But there are also benefits. I’ve seen the world for free and I’m getting paid to play.”

Hansen hopes he’ll get the chance to play in Beijing, where the American men, ranked No. 3 in the world, are expected to contend for a medal, their first since 1992.

He was somewhat noncommittal on whether Tuesday’s performance helped him sew up that coveted roster spot, since Team USA will compete in a six-week World League tournament as a final tuneup to Beijing.

“I was happy we kind of pulled together and were able to pull it out, because Argentina is a good team, but USA is much better,” Hansen said after Tuesday’s match. “I think I helped myself. It’s always good to win. But I really don’t want to analyze that too much. I could have played better, I thought. I’m not extremely disappointed, but I’m not ecstatic about my performance, either.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.