Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Birth Year: 1979
Resides: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Height: 6-1
College: Florida State
Olympic Experience: None
View Nick's complete statistics at BVBInfo.com
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2012 – Lucena and Matt Fuerbringer opened the season with a second-place finish at the FIVB World Tour stop in Brazil... However the team did not reach the podium in their next 10 FIVB events and finished third among the three U.S. beach teams competing for two Olympic slots... The team finished fourth at the Grand Slam in Rome, where Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal won the tournament and won the second Olympic qualification slot... Fuerbringer and Lucena won $60,000 for the season. 2011 – Lucena and Matt Fuerbringer competed in 14 FIVB World Tour events... Their best finishes were a second in Quebec and a fourth in Adagir, Morocco... Their combined winnings were $54,275... They finished the season ranked ninth on the World Tour... They went into 2012 as the second-ranked U.S. men's team in Olympic qualifying points, leading Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal by 60 points. 2010 – Nick formed a new partnership with Matt Fuerbringer and the two competed in nine events on the FIVB World Tour. Their best finish was second at the Grand Slam in Klagenfurt, Austria (7/27-8/1) where they lost to compatriots Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers in the final. The pair placed third in the final event in The Hague, Netherlands (8/24-29). They finished the season with $49,775 in winnings. 2009 – Partnered with Brad Keenan and played four FIVB events. The pair finished in the top half of two of the events and placed 17th in the World Championships in Stavanger. 2008 – Lucena played two FIVB events and made the quota finish with partner Sean Scott in one of the tournaments. 2007 – Nick and partner Sean Scott played in one FIVB event but did not make the country quota. 2005 – Finished 25th in two Grand Slams with partner Dalhausser in his first two FIVB events.
DOMESTIC HIGHLIGHTS: 2012 – Lucena and Matt Fuerbringer competed in four domestic tournaments, finishing second at the AVP event in Cincinnati and third at AVP Santa Barbara. They were also third at the Manhattan Beach Open and fifth at the Huntington Beach Open... Lucena placed third at the NVL Best of the Beach event in Las Vegas... Lucena and Fuerbringer won $17,250 for the season. 2011 – Fuerbringer and Nick Lucena competed in two Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Series events, finishing second in Miami and third in Hermosa Beach... They finished third at the Corona Light Wide Open event in Cincinnati and finished the season with $12,175 in domestic winnings. 2010 – Fuerbringer and Nick Lucena competed in seven AVP events before the tour ceased operations on Aug. 13... They finished first at Virginina Beach, tied for second in Fort Lauderdale (their final against Dalhausser and Rogers was not played due to rain) and third in Huntington Beach... Their combined winnings totaled $28,475.
PERSONAL: Born Nicholas Lucena in 1979… Lucena has three brothers and a sister who played soccer at Florida Atlantic University … He attended Florida State University and graduated with a degree in sports management… Favorite band is Sparta… Favorite movie is the Karate Kid… Favorite television show is Seinfeld … Favorite meal are burritos… His role model is his dad.
PARTNERS: 2012 – Matt Fuerbringer 2011 – Matt Fuerbringer 2010 – Matt Fuerbringer. 2009 – Brad Keenan. 2008 – Sean Scott. 2007 – Mark Williams, Bill Strickland. 2006 – Sean Rooney, Fred Souza, George Roumain, Mark Williams. 2005 – Phil Dalhausser. 2004 – Phil Dalhausser. 2003 – Phil Dalhausser, Derek Zimmerman.
HONORS: 2008 – AVP Best Defensive Player (Defender), AVP Most Improved Player.
Updated October 2012