America libero Erik Shoji has extended his contract with Russian club Lokomotiv Novosibirsk through the end of the season. His contract was originally scheduled to terminate at the end of 2016, but the renewed agreement will keep him playing in the club out of Russia’s third-largest city through at least the end of this season.
Shoji and Lokomotiv recently finished the 2016 Russian Cup, the last major pro tournament of the year, where they fell in the championship to a finally-healthy Zenit Kazan club in 4 sets. Shoji was among the top-performing defensive players of that tournament, including making the spectacular save below:
The 27-year old Shoji has been playing professionally since finishing his career at Stanford in the American collegiate system in 1992. His most recent stops are with Berlin Recycling in the German Bundesliga, until this summer where he joined the Siberian side on what was initially a very short-term contract.
Shoji made his Olympic debut in Rio this summer, along with his older (and taller) brother Kawika – a setter. They are sons of legendary University of Hawaii women’s collegiate volleyball coach Dave Shoji, one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. Dave recently took a leave of absence from his position after being diagnosed with cancer.
Leave a Reply