Justine Wong-Orantes

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Justine Wong-Orantes
File:2022065133315 2022-03-06 DVV Pokalfinale - Sven - 1D X MK II - 0359 - B70I9473.jpg
Wong-Orantes in 2022
Personal information
Nationality American
Born (1995-10-06) October 6, 1995 (age 28)
Torrance, California, U.S.
Hometown Cypress, California, U.S.
Height 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m)
Weight 146 pounds (66 kg)
Spike 111 inches (282 cm)
Block 109 inches (277 cm)
College(s) Nebraska
Volleyball information
Position Libero
Current club France Béziers Volley (fr)
Number 4 (national team)
1 (current club)
Career
Years Teams
2019–2020 Germany Schweriner SC
2020–2022 Germany VC Wiesbaden
2022–present France Béziers Volley
National team
2017– United States United States
Honours
Women’s Volleyball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Olympic rings with white rims.svg
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 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. She is a libero. In 2021, she became a gold medalist at both the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the Volleyball Nations League in Rimini.

Career

Early life and high school

Wong-Orantes is of Filipino-Chinese 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 Cypress, 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

She would complete her collegiate career at Nebraska in both beach and indoor volleyball.[5][6] In indoor volleyball, she won several accolades including AVCA First Team All-American in 2016, Third Team All-American in 2015, was a two time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 & 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

She played for the United States national team since 2017,[8] winning the Pan American gold medal,[9][10] and the bronze medal at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix.[11]

In May 2021, she was named to the 18-player roster for the FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament that was played in Rimini, Italy.[12] It was the only major international competition before the Tokyo Olympics in July. She was named the best libero of the tournament after helping Team USA win its third straight gold medal.[13]

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.[14] In her Olympic debut, Wong-Orantes led the Olympics in serve reception percentage, on the way to helping the U.S. capture its first-ever gold medal. She was named the best Libero of the Olympics.[1]

Professional clubs

  • Germany Schweriner SC (2019–2020)
  • Germany VC Wiesbaden (2020–2022)
  • France Béziers Volley (2022–present)

International awards

References

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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
Italy Monica De Gennaro
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