UC Irvine’s Men’s Volleyball team is celebrating their senior players this Saturday, April 8th at their home game against Pepperdine University. Amongst these celebrated seniors is Michael Saeta. Her Campus had the opportunity to interview Saeta, along with a few of his teammates, for our new Athlete Series.
Saeta is a 5th year senior earning his Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Political Science and Economics. He grew up in South Pasadena and attended Pasadena Polytechnic High School before he was recruited to play for UCI’s Men’s Volleyball Team.
Saeta first started playing volleyball in 8th grade, after his father put together a club team, and he continued playing throughout his high school career. Standing at 6’5, he shared that he used to be “quite skinny and undersized” and would be concerned about his appearance on the court. He stressed the importance of staying healthy and strong so that he could avoid injuries throughout his years of athletic experience. He also let us in on one of the team’s pre-game rituals: grabbing a cup of coffee! The close-knit dynamic of the team is strengthened off the court with cool hangouts and adventures (which you can get a glimpse of on their Instagram page @thevolleyboiz).
When I asked him about his biggest role models, he didn’t hesitate to state that his closest set of role models are at home. “Whether it’s my dad and his ability to find joy in what he does everyday at such a high level, or my mom and her creativity and her tenacity to do anything that she sets her mind to, or both of my brothers and their ability to excel and thrive off of the challenge of hard work,” Saeta humbly spoke about the people he looks up to the most.
We ended our conversation on the topic of what he loves about UCI. Not only does he love the academic standpoint of the University, but he loves being able to live on Newport Beach with his closest teammates. He happily shared, “I wake up every morning and I’m right next to the beach, and I can’t really ask for much more.”