Tokyo Olympics: Spikes and digs. U.S. volleyball teams challenged; unsung hero Libero Justine Wong-Orantes

Justine Wong-Orantes, as a defensive specialist, is often seen diving for the ball.

Other countries in Asia and Europe have professional volleyball leagues. It is hard to understand why the U.S. hasn't been more successful in marketing the sport. Volleyball played at the elite level is fast, compact, exciting. and filled with attractive and interesting players.

One of the unsung heroes of the U.S. women's volleyball team is hard to miss. She's also the only Asian American on the floor -- literally, on the floor. Justine Wong-Orantes is the one usually sprawled out on the floor after diving for a dig on a hard-hit spike by the opponent. 

While only 5'6" she stands tall among her teammates who are almost all over 6 to 10 inches taller than her. While the spikers get most of the glory, the team could not be where it is without the play of Wong-Orantes, which draws praise from players,  coaches and those familiar with the game.

What also makes her stand out is the different color shirt that she's required to wear as a libero. A libero is a defensive specialist and there are certain things that the player can or can't do on offense and the standout shirt makes it easier for the official to keep an eye on what she is permitted to do.

During the years leading to the Olympics, Wong-Orantes lost her position and had to fight and train hard to win it back.

“I’ve got to give her so much credit for her resilience and tenacity,” coache Karch Kiraly told the L.A. Times. “She didn’t stop working … and now you see teams testing her and they’re not getting anything out of it, and that’s making us way better when we have somebody really solid in that position. …

Wong-Orantes, 25, is proud of her Filipino, Chinese and Mexican heritage, and she aims to use her star presence on the Olympic team to promote participation in volleyball by girls of all backgrounds.

“Definitely got people reaching out to me who’ve said how inspiring it is, so that’s really cool to hear,” she said. “Sports in general is such a huge platform for us to give back and really inspire, especially young girls.”

The U.S. team will make its quarterfinals appearance on Wednesday, Aug. 4 against a yet-to-be-determined nation. They’re looking to improve upon their bronze-medal finish in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The U.S. women have never won the gold.

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Micah Chrstenson of the U.S. men's volleyball team.

The U.S. men's volleyball team, with six AAPI players on the 19-member squad, was eliminated from medal contention Sunday, losing to Argentina in straight sets, 3-0. 

“It’s heartbreaking,” said AAPI setter Micah Christenson after the Argentina loss  denied the U.S. the last slot in the quarterfinals.

“We worked really hard for this. We delayed another year to work as hard as we could for this. This isn’t the way we wanted to finish plain and simple. It’s heartbreaking.”

With a 2-3 win-loss record, the team lost to the Russians and Brazil before falling to Argentina. They topped France and Tunisia.

The U.S. had medaled at two of the last three Olympics and had not been eliminated in round-robin play since the 2000 Sydney Games, when the team went 0-5.