After four years at the University of Southern California, Lucas Yoder will begin his professional career with Italy’s top-tier Serie A1 team Kioene Padova. Yoder is a 6’5” outside hitter who played four seasons of indoor volleyball at the USC and one year as a collegiate beach player.
Yoder grew up in San Clemente, California where he had a decorated club and high school career, making the Volleyball Magazine Top 50 and playing for 949 Volleyball Club. Transitioning to the college game, Yoder was able to make an immediate impact at USC, starting all of the team’s 26 matches while earning MPSF Freshman of the Year and AVCA All-American Honorable Mention accolades.
After not seeing a ton of court time his sophomore season, Yoder returned to form his junior and senior seasons. In his junior season, Yoder had a team-high 273 kills while registering All-MPSF Honorable Mention. Yoder then made sure his senior year was a memorable one, leading the nation in kills [4.85] and points [5.22] on a path to earning First Team All-MPSF Honors and AVCA All-American Second Team. Over the course of his indoor career at USC, Yoder logged 1,032 kills, 307 digs, 91 blocks and 32 aces.
In his only season of beach volleyball, Yoder, teamed with UC Irvine’s Michael Saeta, won the gold medal at the inaugural USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships on May 11th-13th, 2017 at Hermosa Beach (Calif.) Pier. Yoder/Saeta never dropped a set over the course of the tournament, winning the championship match in convincing fashion, beating UCLA’s Jackson Bantle and Hagen Smith by scores of 21-16, 21-13.
After a distinguished collegiate career, Yoder is set for a fresh start as he joins Kioene Padova, tied to the club with a two-year contract. Kioene Padova says that Yoder can provide immediate assistance on the attack as well as reception. After finishing in 12th place in Serie A1 (of 14) following a disappointing 6-20 campaign in 2016/2017, Kioene Padova lost their playout series to Sora. While the team is up for relegation, there have been no announcements of relegation released yet. Regardless of what happens, Kioene Padova hopes the addition of Yoder will prove to be valuable during the upcoming season.
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