VANCOUVER – Another member of the 2018 U SPORTS national champion UBC Thunderbirds has signed a professional contract as first team All-Canadian setter Byron Keturakis is joining Narbonne Volley of France's Pro A League.

This new chapter in the 22 year-old Surrey native's career comes after an exceptional season in which he was also named a national championship All Star and tournament MVP.

"I'm super excited, it's tough to leave UBC because I have so many good memories here and friends and teammates, but I'm just really excited for such a cool opportunity," said Keturakis. "I think it's a really good fit for me, I'm signed on as the starting setter so I'm looking to be playing a lot of matches."

"Byron is one of the most driven athletes that I have ever worked with," said former UBC head coach Kerry MacDonald. "He has the highest of goals for what he wants to accomplish in volleyball and playing pro in one of the top leagues in the world is certainly a step towards some of those goals."

In his fourth season with the 'Birds, Keturakis led all of U SPORTS with 65 regular season service aces while also finishing tops in assists with 963.

Keturakis was also honoured at the 2018 Big Block awards as the co-winner of the Bus Phillips Memorial Trophy as UBC's male athlete of the year.

"It is without question a major a loss for our program to lose an athlete of his calibre, but we as a Thunderbird family wish him nothing but the best in the next chapter," added MacDonald.

Keturakis leaves UBC still with one year left of U SPORTS eligibility but he feels this is the right move at the right time.

"It's kind of the perfect finish after such a great year with such an awesome team," added the 6-foot-8 setter. "It's been quite the ride, it's been incredible. The group I got to share this all with, our whole team, our staff, our fans and supporters, it was just so great, I'm just so happy I could share it with them."