How Kelly Cheng deals with social media trolls NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth [Video]

Kelly Cheng attempts to deflect social media criticism the same way she would a volleyball spiked in her direction: by blocking it out. 

But sometimes the negativity, like a ball that occasionally avoids the outstretched arms of the 6-foot-2 Team USA volleyball star, lands in the sand.

“Those words hit me like knives if I listen to them and I allow them to,” Cheng said on an episode of “My New Favorite Olympian.”  

Many professional athletes are subjected to insensitive and unwarranted abuse on social media, making a scroll through their mentions and DMs a torturous exercise for their mental health.     

Cheng, a 27-year-old from California, said she has been targeted over everything from her religion to her body to her playing style. 

“Everybody gets ripped online, but I’ve had death threats on Instagram,” she said. “They’re messaging me like, ‘I hope, like, your plane crashes on the way home.’ Like, ‘I hope your whole family dies.’ I’m just …