Husker Volleyball Trio Captures Historic Gold in Tokyo

Former Nebraska All-Americans Jordan Larson, Justine Wong-Orantes and Kelsey Robinson became Olympic gold medalists Sunday as the United States defeated Brazil 3-0 in the final match of the 2020 Tokyo Games at Ariake Arena.

Larson captained Team USA to a dominant run and became the first American woman to claim gold (Tokyo 2020), silver (London 2012) and bronze (Rio 2016) medals in indoor volleyball alongside three-time Olympic teammate Foluke Akinradewo. The Hooper, Neb., native finished with 12 kills, which was the second-most in the match, alongside five digs.

Wong-Orantes posted seven digs in the sweep.

Larson had six kills in the opening set as the U.S. won 25-21. The Americans followed with a second-set victory at 25-20 and finished it off at 25-14 in the third. Larson put down the final kill to seal the historic win for Team USA, which swept all nine sets in the knockout stage.

Following the match, Larson was named Most Valuable Player and Best Outside Hitter, and she and Wong-Orantes earned spots on the Tokyo 2020 Dream Team. Larson led Team USA with a total of 96 points in eight matches.

Larson, who was a three-time All-American at Nebraska while lettering from 2005-08, competed in her third straight Olympics. Robinson, an All-American at NU in 2013, was also a member of the bronze-medal winning team in 2016, while two-time All-American Wong-Orantes (2013-16) made her Olympic debut in Tokyo.

The trio was part of a group of five Huskers with ties to indoor and beach competition at the 2020 Games. Earlier in the week, four-time All-American Sarah Pavan competed in her second consecutive Olympics in beach volleyball and entered the Games as the No. 1-ranked pair in the world with partner Melissa Humana-Paredes. Nebraska Associate Head Coach Tyler Hildebrand served as the USA Volleyball Director of Coaching for the American beach national teams, which included gold medalists April Ross and Alix Klineman.