Lucas Draper Maffia '21 Recruiting Profile

I was born in Brazil, but unlike most Brazilians I never liked to play soccer! When I was in 5th grade, I started bumping the volleyball around with my PE teacher and he noticed that I had pretty good control. We played a bit every class and much to my mom’s dismay, I started to hit the ball against the wall at home to practice as well. When I got to middle school I had to play on the girls’ team because our school didn’t have a boys’ team. Then one day I was at my school watching a girls’ volleyball game and between sets I would grab the ball and play. This day there was a club coach in the gym and he asked my PE teacher who I was and if I already played on a club team. My PE teachers called me to serve and hit some balls for the coach to see, and he immediately invited me to play on his team. The only problem was his team was made up of 15 to 16 year olds, and I was only 11. My mom laughs every time she remembers the first day I went to practice with them. They would say “Serve it to the little guy”, and they would and I bumped all the balls until I proved to them that I could hold my own. I earned a starting spot on that first team, quickly fell in love with the game, and haven’t looked back since. Today I can’t imagine my life without volleyball.

I have an internal will to compete and succeed, which is the spark to my relentless, driven attitude. My coaches tell me that my desire to win makes me fearless on the court and that I have an uncanny vision and understanding of the game. Since I started, I have played every position, but my preference is to play power or middle Some highlights of my career so far are when I was back-to-back provincial indoor champion with my club team (2016/2017), won Beach Provincials (2017) and placed 5th in indoor nationals (earned player of the day). That 5th place made me grow a lot as a player and is making me push myself so that we can have a better performance next year.

I am looking for a good fit for me athletically but also academically which is also extremely important to me. As a six-time captain and a 4 sport athlete, I believe I have the work ethic and leadership skills to be a great fit in post-secondary volleyball. My goal is to play NCAA Division I volleyball.