is a Filipina-Japanese volleyball player who is currently living in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. She played in the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univ ...

for the NU Lady Bulldogs and in the

Premier Volleyball League The Premier Volleyball League (PVL) is the top-level professional women's volleyball league in the Philippines organized by the Sports Vision Management Group, Inc. The PVL was established in 2004 as the inter-collegiate Shakey's V-League (SV ...

for the

Chery Tiggo Crossovers The Chery Tiggo Crossovers are a Filipino professional women's volleyball team competing in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL). The team is owned by United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. (UAAGI) and is named after the Chery Tiggo crossover SUVs. T ...

Early life

Risa Sato was born on October 4, 1994 in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

where she also spent her childhood. Her mother is Filipino while her father is Japanese. Sato played volleyball at school in Japan. She left Japan at age 19 along with her mother to pursue her dream to play in the Philippines.

Career

Sato was brought to the Philippines in 2013 to play for the collegiate varsity team of the Ateneo de Manila University by

Roger Gorayeb Roger Gorayeb is a Filipino volleyball coach and former college player who is the head coach of the San Sebastian Lady Stags of NCAA Philippines and a team consultant for the Capital1 Solar Spikers of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL). Gora ...

, who was then coach of the university. She played for Ateneo as a guest player in the

Shakey's V-League The Shakey's V-League was a non-professional volleyball league in the Philippines established in 2004. It began as a women's collegiate league with teams coming from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the National Coll ...

. However she failed to get admitted to Ateneo due to failing the entrance examinations which was written in English. In August 2015, she underwent try-outs to play for the National University which by that time was already being mentored by Gorayeb. By July 2017 she was already playing for the National University where she is a second year college student pursuing a degree in sports and wellness management. By the same time she was already playing for the

BaliPure Purest Water Defenders The BaliPure Purest Water Defenders were a professional volleyball club sponsored by Balibago Waterworks System, Inc. playing in the Premier Volleyball League (formerly, Shakey's V-League). The team debuted in the league's 13th Season Open Confe ...

of the

. She won the Premier Volleyball League 1st Season Collegiate Conference championship with NU Lady Bulldogs. During her collegiate career, she won the following individual awards: 1st best middle blocker (2017 PVL reinforced conference), 2nd best middle blocker (2017 PVL open conference) and 2nd best middle blocker (2017 PVL collegiate conference) Sato also played for

Creamline Cool Smashers The Creamline Cool Smashers are a Filipino professional women's volleyball team playing in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL). The team is owned by food company Rebisco and named after its Creamline Creamy Ice Cream brand. They are the most suc ...

from 2018 to 2024. In 2025, she transferred to the

National team

Sato made her international debut playing for the Philippine youth national team at the

2015 Asian Women's U23 Volleyball Championship The 2015 Asian Women's U23 Volleyball Championship was held on 1 to 9 May 2015 in Pasig, Philippines. It was the inaugural edition of the tournament. The tournament served as the Asian qualifiers for the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Women's U23 World Cham ...

which was hosted in

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

. She was also part of the senior team squad that played in the

2015 VTV International Women's Volleyball Cup The 2015 VTV Cup Championship was the 12th staging of the international tournament. The tournament was held at the Bạc Liêu Gymnasium in Bạc Liêu, Vietnam. Pool composition Six teams participated in the tournament. * (hosts) * Nanjing Uni ...

, an invitational tournament held in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Clubs

(2016–2017) *

(2018–2024) *

(2025–present)

Awards

Individuals

*'' 2017 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference "1st Best Middle Blocker"'' *'' 2017 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference "2nd Best Middle Blocker"'' *'' 2017 Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference "2nd Best Middle Blocker"''

Collegiate

Shakey's V-League 12th Season Collegiate Conference The Shakey's V-League 12th Season Collegiate Conference was the 24th conference of Shakey's V-League. The opening ceremony was held on July 11, 2015 with the first triple header of volleyball games at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan, Metro ...

– Silver medal, with

Ateneo Lady Eagles The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the collegiate varsity teams of the Ateneo de Manila University that play in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere collegiate league in the Philippines. The Ateneo collegiate me ...

Shakey's V-League 13th Season Collegiate Conference The Shakey's V-League 13th Season Collegiate Conference is the 27th conference of the Shakey's V-League and the second conference for its 2016 SVL season, 13th season. The conference was started on July 30, 2016 at the Ynares Sports Arena with the ...

– Champion, with NU Lady Bulldogs * UAAP Season 77 Women's volleyball tournament – Bronze medal, with NU Lady Bulldogs *

2017 Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference The 2017 Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference was the third conference of the Premier Volleyball League and the 2017 season. The conference started on September 2, 2017 at the Filoil Flying V Centre, San Juan. Women's division Pa ...

– Champion, with NU Lady Bulldogs

Clubs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Risa Filipino people of Japanese descent Japanese people of Filipino descent 1994 births Middle blockers Sportspeople from Osaka National University (Philippines) alumni University Athletic Association of the Philippines volleyball players Living people Philippines women's international volleyball players Filipino women's volleyball players Creamline Cool Smashers players