Gustavo Orduz is a Colombian whose love, passion and dedication for volleyball is unmatched. He decided to join the volleyball team in his home country at age 12 at the school he was attending. Though at first he did not want to join the team because he did not know how to play the sport, his friends convinced him to give it a shot. Thanks to his hard work at try-out sessions, Gustavo was selected as one of the prospects for the team.
After one year of learning the secrets to the sport from the bench, he was given the opportunity to prove himself. In 1997 his passion, hard work and dedication helped him earn a spot in the starting line-up. Two years later, his team won the local championship after almost a decade of struggling. Once in the regionals, Gustavo showed a great deal of leadership helping his team to move on to the national games which were held that year in Bogota, DC. In the national games, his team won a silver medal, and though they did not win the gold medal, it was a great experience that helped Orduz grow as a volleyball player and a teammate, but most importantly, as a human being.
In the following years, Gustavo was given the opportunity to join the Santader Volleyball League where he played for two years and had the opportunity to play in different tournaments and play in the national games. Due to injury, Gustavo stopped playing volleyball for a few years, though he stayed in shape and stayed at the game in a non-collegiate capacity.
In 2003 while living in the United States of America, Orduz helped his high school team (Newcomers HS) make it to the semifinals. That year, he was selected Player of the Week by PSAL as well as he was awarded with Scholar Athlete of the Year recognition. After the PSAL season finished Gustavo was called to try out for the NYC volleyball team where he had to compete with over 200 high school athletes to earn one spot on a well-known team. While playing for the NYC team, he participated in the Empire State Games hosted at the Buffalo University campus. In that tournament, New York City won a silver medal.
In 2004 Gustavo Orduz enrolled at Lehman College where he joined the volleyball men’s varsity team. In his first season with the Lightning he was named Rookie of the year. In 2005 - his sophomore year - Gustavo was the MVP and named to the CUNY All-Star team, as well as NECVA All-Star team. In the year to come Gustavo was, for second year in a row, selected to the NECVA All-Star team.
Now, Gustavo joins the team again but this time around not a as a player but as one of the assistant coaches.
“It is really important for us having Gustavo Orduz as assistant coach," head coach Wolfgang Lucena said. "He is going to bring a lot of experience as a player, he knows the sport very well. His respectful personality is going to be an additional help for our team’s chemistry."
