Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Justine wang Orantes is joining us on the phone line. Justine,
thanks so much for being a part of our show today.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Okay, obviously, the first question has to come from a
Nebraska perspective, because anybody who follows Nebraska volleyball would be like,
wait a second, is that the same Justine wang Orantes?
And indeed it is. So can you just reiterate, you know,
before we talk about kind of what you expect in
the pros in Omaha, why Nebraska is so special in
(00:31):
volleyball and what it was like to, you know, not
just be a part of the team, but to actually
win a title as a member of the corn Huskers.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah. Yeah, I always call Nebraska a second home because
of the people, and the people just are so invested
not only in college volleyball, but college sports. And I
think that's what's so special about the state of Nebraska,
their investment, and we definitely feel it as the athletes.
And then coming back here in the fall is going
(01:00):
to be so awesome because I will get to reconnect
with a lot of you know, friends and teammates and
coach Cook and so I'm really really excited to be
returning back to Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, certainly, indoor volleyball is what a lot of people
around here know about. And I'll ask a bit about
this is you know, you were just in the Olympics,
but I want to talk about beach volleyball too, because
you're from California. Originally, beach volleyball is actually like a
real legitimate thing there, and then I learned it's a
real legitimate thing everywhere, including Nebraska. Can you explain how
(01:32):
this works and how you get good at beach volleyball
and the difference is.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so I grew up playing beach volleyball in California.
I would say it's two totally different sports. I mean,
you have all of the elements of the outside working
against you or in your favor, and it's different because
you can play to those advantages or they definitely can
be a disadvantage. And so I was actually fortunate enough
(01:58):
to be able to play both at Nebraska, go both
sand in and indoor, and so I think both sports
are growing tremendously and it's really cool to see both
of those trending upwards.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
We're speaking with Justine Wangarantez, who played in one A
national title with Nebraska First Team All American as part
of the corn Huskers and the legendary Cornhusker volleyball team.
She is playing now for the new Omaha squad for
League One Volleyball, which will be starting play in January.
But I wanted to talk about your experience in the
(02:30):
Olympic Games you've played for the United States. You won
a gold medal in twenty twenty, which I'm sure was
a very strange experience with all the COVID stuff at
twenty twenty one technically for the twenty twenty Olympics, but
then you went back to Paris to defend that gold medal,
got a silver medal, another great showing there. What is
it like going to the Olympics. What's like the village,
like in your guys' schedule, you know, a little bit
(02:52):
busier than maybe some of the other events. Like what
does that look like from your perspective? And how much
different was it the second time?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, I I honestly told a lot of people is
like it was the first time, because we got to
experience the Olympics for what it was and it was really, really,
really amazing, and the fact that our friends and family
were able to experience that with us, it made it
even more just so so unique and very surreal and
(03:19):
I'm just so grateful to be a part of it.
And so women's volleyball actually goes from start to end
of the whole Olympic Games. And so we were there
for three weeks and we got to see a lot
of a lot of our family and friends, which I'm
super grateful for, and just kind of got to take
four Paris as well, which that was different because we
didn't get to do anything in Tokyo. So it was
(03:40):
it was very fun and definitely something that I'll remember
for a very long time.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, your position specifically are incredibly important as a liberal
or you know, a defensive specialist. For those who don't know,
you're going to wear the opposite color shirt as you're
back there, and you've been doing this for a while,
even at the pro ranks and internationally and everything like that.
That it's it's a skill to you know, receive serves
to receive, you know, spikes or kill attempts from the
(04:07):
other team. What about your skill set has made you
so successful as one of the best in the world
at this position.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, I would say I think people are starting to
learn more and more about the libero position. I would
even say even in the college game. I mean, case
in point, we have Lexi roger Guez for the Huskers.
She's just taking over the college game and she's breaking
a ton of records and she's probably gonna trend in
the in the same path for the national team. And
(04:36):
so it's really really cool to see this position just
grow and grow and just more people to see the
value of the position as well.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, labero is a free substitution as well, So they're
out there seemingly all the time and playing the same
type of spot on the floor all the time, whereas
you know, some of the other players that are like
outside hitters or middle blockers, they kind of sub in
and out based on where the rotations are, which is
always kind of fascinating to me. We're speaking with Justine
wang Arntez and you're on the radio with me. We
(05:07):
could talk about, you know, all the stuff that you've
already done for a long time, but we're here to
talk about this new League one volleyball, which you know
kind of is a little bit more of a grassroots
you know, from the very bottom all the way up
to now professional volleyball here and there is an Omaha
club one of six pro clubs that are part of
this Can you tell me about kind of this this
(05:27):
league specifically and kind of what led you, you know,
in the high profile nature that you have coming and
being a part of this specific team and in this league,
knowing there's so many other leagues around the world that
including this country now that people are taking a lot
of attention to.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
At this point. Yeah. Yeah, So League one Volleyball is
starting from the ground up, just like you said, and
we're really kind of putting our roots into the club
communities with the youth clubs, and I think that's what's
so unique about us is we're really trying to to,
you know, go side by side with all the youth
(06:02):
clubs and hopefully we can be mentors towards them and
they could really just see what it's like to be
a pro athlete and just know that it's there for
them if they choose that path. And so I'm really
really excited to just work alongside Premiere Nebraska. Give them
a shout out because I've done a lot of work
leading up to this season with them and they've just
(06:23):
been nothing but great to me and to everyone, and
I'm just really excited to, like I said, come back
to Nebraska. It's always been a home to me and
just get started with it all.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, and this is there's actually like an academy program
kind of as well, and Premiere Nebraska going to host
that in Omaha in November on November twenty fourth as well.
So for anybody who wants to learn a little bit
more information about what you guys are doing with League
one Volleyball and how they can learn more and find
schedules and stuff for the schedule for the pros which
(06:55):
is going to start after the new year, how can
they find more information?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, you can go lovb dot com and you can
follow us on Instagram. You can follow us on TikTok Facebook,
you can follow my account on Instagram as well, and
you know, everyone who knows who Jordan Marson is, I'm
sure you guys can follow her along and just see
our journeys. It's going to be pretty pretty special. So
(07:19):
I would say tuned for more info.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
It's going to be a lot of fun and blessed
to have you guys back in Nebraska. It's always fun
to kind of rekindle this, especially with Omaha being so
close to the volleyball community on a national level. Justin Wangarantis,
thanks so much, good luck with everything you guys got
going on building this team up and building the awareness
of volleyball at every level here in the United States.
(07:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
All Right, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
How about that?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Justin Wangarantis, two time Olympic medalist, All American National champion
with the corn Huskers. Not every day you get to
talk to somebody that's that decorated in a sport which
really does feel like it lives in breeze here in
the heartbeat of America, in Omaha and in Nebraska.
Justine wang Orantes is joining us on the phone line. Justine,
thanks so much for being a part of our show today.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Okay, obviously, the first question has to come from a
Nebraska perspective, because anybody who follows Nebraska volleyball would be like,
wait a second, is that the same Justine wang Orantes?
And indeed it is. So can you just reiterate, you know,
before we talk about kind of what you expect in
the pros in Omaha, why Nebraska is so special in
(00:31):
volleyball and what it was like to, you know, not
just be a part of the team, but to actually
win a title as a member of the corn Huskers.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah. Yeah, I always call Nebraska a second home because
of the people, and the people just are so invested
not only in college volleyball, but college sports. And I
think that's what's so special about the state of Nebraska,
their investment, and we definitely feel it as the athletes.
And then coming back here in the fall is going
(01:00):
to be so awesome because I will get to reconnect
with a lot of you know, friends and teammates and
coach Cook and so I'm really really excited to be
returning back to Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, certainly, indoor volleyball is what a lot of people
around here know about. And I'll ask a bit about
this is you know, you were just in the Olympics,
but I want to talk about beach volleyball too, because
you're from California. Originally, beach volleyball is actually like a
real legitimate thing there, and then I learned it's a
real legitimate thing everywhere, including Nebraska. Can you explain how
(01:32):
this works and how you get good at beach volleyball
and the difference is.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, so I grew up playing beach volleyball in California.
I would say it's two totally different sports. I mean,
you have all of the elements of the outside working
against you or in your favor, and it's different because
you can play to those advantages or they definitely can
be a disadvantage. And so I was actually fortunate enough
(01:58):
to be able to play both at Nebraska, go both
sand in and indoor, and so I think both sports
are growing tremendously and it's really cool to see both
of those trending upwards.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
We're speaking with Justine Wangarantez, who played in one A
national title with Nebraska First Team All American as part
of the corn Huskers and the legendary Cornhusker volleyball team.
She is playing now for the new Omaha squad for
League One Volleyball, which will be starting play in January.
But I wanted to talk about your experience in the
(02:30):
Olympic Games you've played for the United States. You won
a gold medal in twenty twenty, which I'm sure was
a very strange experience with all the COVID stuff at
twenty twenty one technically for the twenty twenty Olympics, but
then you went back to Paris to defend that gold medal,
got a silver medal, another great showing there. What is
it like going to the Olympics. What's like the village,
like in your guys' schedule, you know, a little bit
(02:52):
busier than maybe some of the other events. Like what
does that look like from your perspective? And how much
different was it the second time?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, I I honestly told a lot of people is
like it was the first time, because we got to
experience the Olympics for what it was and it was really, really,
really amazing, and the fact that our friends and family
were able to experience that with us, it made it
even more just so so unique and very surreal and
(03:19):
I'm just so grateful to be a part of it.
And so women's volleyball actually goes from start to end
of the whole Olympic Games. And so we were there
for three weeks and we got to see a lot
of a lot of our family and friends, which I'm
super grateful for, and just kind of got to take
four Paris as well, which that was different because we
didn't get to do anything in Tokyo. So it was
(03:40):
it was very fun and definitely something that I'll remember
for a very long time.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah, your position specifically are incredibly important as a liberal
or you know, a defensive specialist. For those who don't know,
you're going to wear the opposite color shirt as you're
back there, and you've been doing this for a while,
even at the pro ranks and internationally and everything like that.
That it's it's a skill to you know, receive serves
to receive, you know, spikes or kill attempts from the
(04:07):
other team. What about your skill set has made you
so successful as one of the best in the world
at this position.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, I would say I think people are starting to
learn more and more about the libero position. I would
even say even in the college game. I mean, case
in point, we have Lexi roger Guez for the Huskers.
She's just taking over the college game and she's breaking
a ton of records and she's probably gonna trend in
the in the same path for the national team. And
(04:36):
so it's really really cool to see this position just
grow and grow and just more people to see the
value of the position as well.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, labero is a free substitution as well, So they're
out there seemingly all the time and playing the same
type of spot on the floor all the time, whereas
you know, some of the other players that are like
outside hitters or middle blockers, they kind of sub in
and out based on where the rotations are, which is
always kind of fascinating to me. We're speaking with Justine
wang Arntez and you're on the radio with me. We
(05:07):
could talk about, you know, all the stuff that you've
already done for a long time, but we're here to
talk about this new League one volleyball, which you know
kind of is a little bit more of a grassroots
you know, from the very bottom all the way up
to now professional volleyball here and there is an Omaha
club one of six pro clubs that are part of
this Can you tell me about kind of this this
(05:27):
league specifically and kind of what led you, you know,
in the high profile nature that you have coming and
being a part of this specific team and in this league,
knowing there's so many other leagues around the world that
including this country now that people are taking a lot
of attention to.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
At this point. Yeah. Yeah, So League one Volleyball is
starting from the ground up, just like you said, and
we're really kind of putting our roots into the club
communities with the youth clubs, and I think that's what's
so unique about us is we're really trying to to,
you know, go side by side with all the youth
(06:02):
clubs and hopefully we can be mentors towards them and
they could really just see what it's like to be
a pro athlete and just know that it's there for
them if they choose that path. And so I'm really
really excited to just work alongside Premiere Nebraska. Give them
a shout out because I've done a lot of work
leading up to this season with them and they've just
(06:23):
been nothing but great to me and to everyone, and
I'm just really excited to, like I said, come back
to Nebraska. It's always been a home to me and
just get started with it all.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, and this is there's actually like an academy program
kind of as well, and Premiere Nebraska going to host
that in Omaha in November on November twenty fourth as well.
So for anybody who wants to learn a little bit
more information about what you guys are doing with League
one Volleyball and how they can learn more and find
schedules and stuff for the schedule for the pros which
(06:55):
is going to start after the new year, how can
they find more information?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, you can go lovb dot com and you can
follow us on Instagram. You can follow us on TikTok Facebook,
you can follow my account on Instagram as well, and
you know, everyone who knows who Jordan Marson is, I'm
sure you guys can follow her along and just see
our journeys. It's going to be pretty pretty special. So
(07:19):
I would say tuned for more info.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
It's going to be a lot of fun and blessed
to have you guys back in Nebraska. It's always fun
to kind of rekindle this, especially with Omaha being so
close to the volleyball community on a national level. Justin Wangarantis,
thanks so much, good luck with everything you guys got
going on building this team up and building the awareness
of volleyball at every level here in the United States.
(07:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
All Right, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
How about that?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Justin Wangarantis, two time Olympic medalist, All American National champion
with the corn Huskers. Not every day you get to
talk to somebody that's that decorated in a sport which
really does feel like it lives in breeze here in
the heartbeat of America, in Omaha and in Nebraska.
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