| Justine Wong-Orantes | |||||||||||||
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 Wong-Orantes in 2022 | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1995-10-06)October 6, 1995 (age 30) Torrance, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Hometown | Cypress, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 146 lb (66 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Spike | 111 in (282 cm) | ||||||||||||
| Block | 109 in (277 cm) | ||||||||||||
| College / University | Nebraska | ||||||||||||
| Volleyball information | |||||||||||||
| Position | Libero | ||||||||||||
| Current club |  LOVB Houston | ||||||||||||
| Number | 4 (national team) | ||||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||||
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| National team | |||||||||||||
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Medal record | |||||||||||||
Justine Wong-Orantes (born October 6, 1995) is an Americanvolleyball player who plays aslibero for theUnited States women's national volleyball team. She played college volleyball for theNebraska Cornhuskers, where she won anNCAA 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 the2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the first-ever gold medal finish for the women's national team.
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 accomplishedbeach volleyball player from a young age, partnering withSara 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 atLos Alamitos High School inLos 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 coachJohn 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]
Wong-Orantes played both beach and indoor volleyball at Nebraska.[5][6] In indoor volleyball, she won several accolades, includingAVCA First Team All-American in 2016 and Third Team All-American in 2015. She was a two timeBig 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 the2015 NCAA national championship.[7]
Wong-Orantes joined the United States national team in 2017,[8] during which year she won gold at thePan-American Volleyball Cup and bronze at theVolleyball World Grand Prix.[9]
In May 2021, she was named to the 18-player roster for theFIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament that was played inRimini, 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 coachKarch Kiraly announced she would be part of the 12-player Olympic roster for the2020 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]
Schweriner SC (2019–2020) VC Wiesbaden (2020–2022)
Béziers Volley (2022–2023) SC Potsdam (2023–2024) LOVB Omaha (2024–present)[13][14]
Media related toJustine Wong-Orantes at Wikimedia Commons| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by | Best Libero of Olympic Games 2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Best Libero of FIVB Nations League 2021 | Succeeded by |
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2020 USA Olympic Volleyball Team (women's indoor – gold, women's beach – gold) | ||
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| Qualification | _pictogram.svg) | |
| Men's indoor | ||
| Women's indoor | ||
| Men's beach | ||
| Women's beach | ||
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