On a team with three sophomore All-Americans, senior libero Andrew Sato is taking a bigger leadership role for the Long Beach State men’s volleyball that is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Sato may not get much spotlight, but he is leaving his mark on the floor and is one reason why LBSU is having a championship-caliber season.
As libero, Sato is a roaming defensive player near the back of the court. And he couldn’t be in a better position, after coming into this season ranked seventh in school history with 725 digs.
“Serve-receive has always been a strength of mine,” Sato said. “I think the difference between last season and this season has definitely been becoming more of a presence, and kind of just taking more command of the court.”
To say Sato was destined to be a volleyball player would be an understatement. Sato’s father, Gary Sato, was an All-American at UC Santa Barbara as well as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s National team after his time as a Gauchos.
Eric Sato, Andrew’s uncle, won a gold medal with the U.S. men’s volleyball team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona games. For Sato, volleyball seemed to run in his blood.
Although being in a family with great volleyball players, Sato said his route to LBSU was pretty conventional.
“I played club and did the normal route,” Sato said. “My high school wasn’t very known for volleyball so club was pretty important for me. It was nice being able to represent USA with the youth national team.”
LBSU had an upper-hand on recruiting Sato because head coach Alan Knipe worked with Sato’s father on the youth national team.
“Knipe recruited me and thought it would be a really good fit for me to come here,” Sato said. “He thought it would be the best situation for me… and I agreed with him, I think this was the best place I could have gone.”
Sato is now in his fifth year with LBSU after redshirting in 2015. With multiple returning players the team believes chemistry and familiarity with one another will help them reach their goals.
“We all get along and we are always hanging out with each other,” said senior middle blocker Amir Lugo-Rodriguez. “I think that definitely does help a lot because there is that comfortability on the court, we not only see guys at volleyball but we see our teammates all the time and it builds that trust.”
Lugo-Rodriguez transferred to LBSU from Cal Baptist University in 2015 and he said Sato helped him transition into a new program.
“I played against Sato for two years,” Lugo-Rodriguez said. “Once I transferred here I found out he was also redshirting, me and him spent a lot of time together practicing and working out.”
Sato is a key component on the LBSU squad and his leadership on and off the court doesn’t go unnoticed.
“He [Sato] was one of the guys that was really welcoming,” Lugo-Rodriguez said. “When I transferred he made me feel at home with that senior class that he would have been a part of and I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Now in his final season with LBSU, Sato wants to win a title.
“Winning a championship would mean everything to me,” Sato said. “[After] all the hard work that not only I put in but the coaches, weight coach, our athletic trainers — I think it would just be a really nice way to go out and be able to thank them.”