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Justine Wong-Orantes

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Justine Wong-Orantes
Wong-Orantes in 2022
Personal information
Born (1995-10-06) October 6, 1995 (age 29)
Torrance, California, U.S.
HometownCypress, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight146 lb (66 kg)
Spike111 in (282 cm)
Block109 in (277 cm)
College / UniversityNebraska
Volleyball information
PositionLibero
Current clubUnited States LOVB Omaha
Number4 (national team)
Career
YearsTeams
2019–2020Germany Schweriner SC
2020–2022Germany VC Wiesbaden
2022–2023France Béziers Volley
2023–2024Germany SC Potsdam
National team
2017–United States United States
Honours
Women's Volleyball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Team
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2019 Japan Team
FIVB Nations League
Gold medal – first place 2018 Nanjing Team
Gold medal – first place 2021 Rimini Team
NORCECA Championship
Silver medal – second place 2019 San Juan Team
Pan-American Cup
Gold medal – first place 2017 Cañete/Lima
Gold medal – first place 2018 Santo Domingo
Gold medal – first place 2019 Trujillo/Chiclayo
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Santo Domingo
World Grand Champions Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Japan Team

Justine Wong-Orantes (born October 6, 1995) is an American volleyball player who plays as libero for the United States women's national volleyball team. She played college volleyball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, where she won an NCAA national championship. She began playing for U.S. national team in 2017. In 2021, she was one of twelve players who won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the first-ever gold medal finish for the women's national team.

Career

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Early life and high school

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Wong-Orantes is Chinese of descent on her mother's side and of Mexican descent on her father's side. Both of her parents, Winnie Wong and Robert Orantes, were volleyball players. Her father also coached the Mizuno Long Beach volleyball club.[1]

She was an accomplished beach volleyball player from a young age, partnering with Sara Hughes and appearing on "Volleyball" magazine covers at age 12, after winning a prestigious beach volleyball California tournament. She was the youngest female to ever earn an AAA rating in beach volleyball.[2] She attended high school at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California,[3] where as an indoor player, her position was setter where she led her Long Beach-based club team to a national title.[4]

Due to her being considered undersized at 5'6", she was not heavily recruited coming out of high school by top volleyball schools. It wasn't until she was attending a high school club tournament, when the head coach got tired of so many balls dropping easily and asked her to put on a libero jersey. Nebraska head coach John Cook happened to be at the tournament and watched her play in her first ever match as libero. He saw potential in her, invited her for a visit to campus, where she eventually committed to play.[4]

University of Nebraska

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Wong-Orantes played both beach and indoor volleyball at Nebraska.[5][6] In indoor volleyball, she won several accolades, including AVCA First Team All-American in 2016 and Third Team All-American in 2015. She was a two time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and finished her career as Nebraska's all-time career digs leader with 1,890.[7] She helped her team win the 2015 NCAA national championship.[7]

U.S. National Team

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Wong-Orantes joined the United States national team in 2017,[8] during which year she won gold at the Pan-American Volleyball Cup and bronze at the Volleyball World Grand Prix.[9]

In May 2021, she was named to the 18-player roster for the FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament that was played in Rimini, Italy.[10] She was named the best libero of the tournament after helping Team USA win its third straight gold medal.[11]

On June 7, 2021, U.S. National Team head coach Karch Kiraly announced she would be part of the 12-player Olympic roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[12] Wong-Orantes led the Olympics in serve reception percentage and helped the U.S. capture its first-ever gold medal. She was named the best libero of the Olympics.[1]

Professional clubs

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  • Germany Schweriner SC (2019–2020)
  • Germany VC Wiesbaden (2020–2022)
  • France Béziers Volley (2022–2023)
  • Germany SC Potsdam (2023–2024)
  • United States LOVB Omaha (2024–present)[13][14]

International awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "'Best Libero' Justine Wong-Orantes 'the ball in the air' for Team USA to win first volleyball gold medal". Yahoo! Sports. August 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "Chatelain: Before Nebraska found Justine Wong-Orantes, she was a beach phenom in L.A. going toe-to-toe with players twice her age". Omaha World Herald. December 13, 2016.
  3. ^ "Justine Wong Orantes - Team USA". USA. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Keep digging: Justine Wong-Orantes never gave up on Olympic volleyball dream". LA times. July 27, 2021.
  5. ^ "Justine Wong-Orantes Bio". Huskers.com. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  6. ^ "Husker volleyball freshman in key position to start the season". The Daily Nebraskan. August 29, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Justine Wong-Orantes - Nebraska Roster Bio". University of Nebraska.
  8. ^ "Justine Wong Orantes". Team USA. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  9. ^ "World Grand Prix Group 1 - Team Roster - USA - FIVB World Grand Prix 2017". worldgrandprix.2017.fivb.com. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  10. ^ "Kiraly announces 18 USA Volleyball women on FIVB VNL Roster |". May 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "Triple Triumph! U.S. Women Win 3rd Straight VNL Title". USA Volleyball. June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "USAV Announces U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team". USA Volleyball. June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Justine Wong-Orantes, Kelsey Robinson Cook sign on as League One Volleyball moves toward pro league launch". NBC Sports. December 16, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  14. ^ Star, Brent C. Wagner Lincoln Journal (December 6, 2023). "Nebraska All-American Justine Wong-Orantes to play for Omaha pro team". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
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Awards
Preceded by Best Libero of
Olympic Games
2020 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Best Libero of
FIVB Nations League
2021 		Succeeded by
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