American superstar Taylor Sander has signed a contract with Italian side Lube Volley, returning to the league after a season away playing in Beijing. Sander played his first two seasons as a professional in Verona for 2014-2016 before a year in the Chinese league.
“I am very happy and satisfied to be part of an important club like Cucine Lube Civitanova,” said Sander after signing the contract. “It is a club with a great history and tradition, and I am very proud to wear this shirt and hope that I can help the team in the best way possible. Next to me there will be very strong players with whom I will be honored to play. In addition, I repeat, the ability to be part of one of the world’s best club I value a lot. Forza Lube!”
Sander won a bronze medal with the U.S. Olympic Team last summer in Rio, where he was Team USA’s most consistent scorer with 72 kills across 8 American games.
Collegiately, Sander played at BYU where he became the school’s rally-scoring career leader in kills with 1,743 and aces with 182 in his 4 seasons. He graduated with more than twice as many aces as any other Cougar in the rally-scoring era.
Sander, who stands 1.96m (6’5″) tall, hits at 345cm (136″) and blocks at 320cm (130″).
Lube are the defending Italian league regular season and tournament champions, sweeping Trentino 3 games to 0 in a best-of-5 final series, but have a long way to go in regard to re-signing their roster. Thus far, they’ve only included 3 players, including Sander, on their roster for 2017-2018. Middle blocker Enrico Cester, who had 29 blocks and 119 points in 51 sets played last season, has been signed for two more seasons. Also returning is Cuban-born, Italian-converted outside hitter Osmany Juantorena, who has been with the team since 2015.
Not among those yet re-signed by Lube is Sander’s Team USA teammate Micah Christenson, who was Team USA’s starting setter at last year’s Olympics.
The team is currently rebuilding under new coach Giampolo Medei, who had his official introduction to the media this week.
Taylor Sander‘s Career
- 2017-2018 CIVITANOVA Cucine Lube (Super League)
- BEIJING 2016-2017 Volleyball (CHN)
- 2014-2016 Bluvolley VERONA (Super League)
- BRIGHAM 2011-2014 Youth University (USA)
The prize list of the US spiker
National
- 1 World League (2014)
- 1 World Cup (2015)
Club
- 1 Challenge Cup (2016)
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