Lucas Yanez
CONWAY - Coastal Carolina head volleyball coach Jozsef Forman announced Monday that former University of Kansas volunteer assistant, Lucas Yanez, is joining the Chanticleer coaching staff as an assistant coach.
"Lucas' passion, work ethic and defensive mindset will be a great addition to our team," said Forman. "He played at the highest level as an All-American libero at Lewis University and experienced the NCAA Final Four as a coach at the University of Kansas. He had great mentors like Dan Friend (Lewis head coach), Ray Bechard (Kansas head coach) and his father, Arturo Yanez. He will bring a lot of energy to our team and is overall a fun individual to be around. I'm happy to welcome Lucas to our Chanticleer family."
Yanez spent the 2015 season at Kansas, assisting with the overall coaching, supervision and organization of the Jayhawk volleyball team. He specifically helped with the defense, including the development of the liberos and defensive specialists. Under Yanez's supervision, the Kansas defense ranked second in the Big 12 in opponent hitting percentage and third in digs per set. Nationally, Kansas finished the 2015 season ranked ninth in the NCAA Division I standings with a 30-3 overall record and an appearance in the Final Four of the 2015 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
"Lucas was a great fit for our program and coaching staff" said Bechard, the 2015 National Coach of the Year. "The experience he had at the libero position made his transition to KU very seamless. Since he played at such a high level, he was able to communicate great information to our defensive specialists during our most successful season in program history. It was a good year for him -- a productive year. Great things lie ahead for Lucas Yanez and we wish him well."
Prior to joining the Jayhawks, Yanez competed in the USA Premier Volleyball League (PVL) in the summer of 2015. He and the Great Lake Lightning, representing the Great Lakes region, finished second.
Fresh out of college, Yanez gained experience from multiple coaching opportunities. In the summer of 2015, he worked at Sport Performance Volleyball (SPVB) coaching all age levels: 14s, 15s, 16s and 18s. He also traveled with the club as the Director of Scouting Operations, assembling scouting reports for future opponents. With SPVB, he guided the 18 Elite, 18 Red and 18 Blue each to win national championships at the 2015 AAU's.
Yanez expanded his reach by working as the master coach in SPVB camps in Louisiana, North Carolina and Illinois for the 2015 camp season.
As a coach at the Santa Monica Beach Club (SMBC) from 2012-13, Yanez mentored high school players on fundamentals and technique on the basis of good sportsmanship. He organized training and helped direct team practices. In July 2013, he coached SMBC in the Boys Junior National Championships.
Yanez returned to his own high school, John Burroughs High, to coach the junior varsity girls volleyball team. Aside from coaching various skills camps and combines, Yanez also worked as a Pac-12, Big West and MPSF official from 2011-13.
He brings to the table an impressive skillset at the Division I level. Yanez concluded the final two years of his collegiate career at Lewis University (Romeoville, Illinois). Named the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Preseason Libero of the Year prior to the 2015 season, Yanez controlled the defense of a Lewis squad that ranked top-five nationally all season. The team received the No. 1 overall national seed in the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball Tournament, advancing to the Final Four to defeat Penn State. Lewis finished the year as national runner-up, falling to Loyola University in five sets (23-21) in the NCAA National Championship.
His senior season performance amassed several accolades, highlighted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) naming him to the All-America Second Team. He also earned Volleyball Magazine All-America Second Team honors and was All-MIVA First Team. He tied the record for the most digs in an NCAA Championship match with 15 against Loyola.
"Lucas if a fantastic hire for the women's volleyball program at Costal Carolina," said Friend, who completed his 11th season at Lewis in 2015. "He has a great mind for the overall game and is one of the up and coming young coaches in the country."
As a senior at Lewis, Yanez was named All-MIVA Second Team after helping his team to a top-five ranking all year, including nine weeks at No. 2 and a week at No. 1.
Prior to his transfer to Lewis, Yanez spent two seasons at the starting libero spot at Los Angeles Pierce College (Woodland Hills, California). Setting a solid foundation for his next stop at Lewis, Yanez earned 2013 Western State Conference MVP accolades.
Yanez graduated from Lewis in 2015 with a degree in sport management. He earned Academic MIVA All-Conference recognition in 2014 and 2015 as well as the Brother David Delahanty Student-Athlete Award in each of those seasons.
