Eastern Washington University Athletics

Hayford on Soto: “Mario is recovering from knee surgery, and when he’s fully recovered he will be able to help our team in many ways.  He is a great teammate and loved by all in the program. Mario has great skill as a shooter and will develop into a solid player in our system.”

2015-16: Redshirted.
 
Concordia: Played the 2014-15 season at Concordia College in Irvine, Calif., helping the Eagles finish 27-8 overall and 13-3 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. He started 33 of the 34 games he played, averaging 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Concordia advanced to the NAIA Championships in Kansas City, Mo., defeating Oklahoma City 74-62 and losing to Pikeville (Ky.) 97-93 in overtime. Played for Ken Amman, who was also coach and mentor to current Eagle assistant coach Chris Victor.
 
High School: Graduated from Saddleback Valley Christian High School in 2014. Despite never playing the sport of volleyball before, he helped lead Saddleback, located in San Juan Capistrano, to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section title in 2014 as a middle blocker. The Warriors finished 31-4-1, eventually losing to Laguna Beach in the regional finals. He transferred from basketball powerhouse Mater Dei to Saddleback to play basketball, but had to sit out the 2013-14 season after his appeal to gain eligibility was denied. In three seasons as a varsity player at Mater Dei, he helped lead the Monarchs to three-straight CIF Division I titles.
 
Personal: Interdisciplinary studies/liberal arts major at Eastern, and currently has a 3.11 grade point average at EWU.  Born Feb. 24, 1995, in Orange, Calif. His parents are Mario and Asha Soto. He has one brother, Tomas.