Héctor Soto (born June 28, 1978 i
ArroyoPuerto Rico
is a former

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, who was a member of the Men's National Team that ended up in sixth place at the

2007 FIVB Men's World Cup The 2007 FIVB Men's World Cup was held from 18 November to 2 December 2007 in Japan. The tournament was the first step in the qualification process for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The top three teams qualified for the Olympics, an ...

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 ...

and received the Best Scorer individual award. He played in the 2006 FIVB World Championship, being also named Best Scorer of the tournament.

College

Soto is married with Amnerys González and has two children, Camila and Maurizio. He studied in the Carmen B. Huyke High School.

Career

Soto started playing professionally with the Puerto Rican club Bucaneros de Arroyo in the 1995 season, he then played with Caribes de San Sebastián since 1998 when Arroyo and San Sebastian merged, winning the 1999 Puerto Rican League Championship with this team and becoming Final Series Most Valuable Player. He later played the 2000/01 season in the Tunisian League with the club

Club Sportif Sfaxien Club Sportif Sfaxien (), known as CS Sfaxien or simply CSS for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Sfax. The club was founded in 1928 and its colours are black and white (Bianconero). Their home stadium, Taieb Mhiri Stadium, has a capac ...

. He won the silver medal in the

2001 African Volleyball Clubs Champions Championship The 2001 African Clubs Championship (volleyball), African Volleyball Clubs Champions Championship was the 20th edition of African's premier club volleyball tournament held in Sousse, Tunisia. Final Squads *Étoile Sportive du Sahel V.C., Ét ...

when his club lost 0-3 to the compatriot

Étoile du Sahel Étoile may refer to: Places ;France * Charles de Gaulle – Étoile, station of the Paris Métro * Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in France * Étoile-sur-Rhône, commune in the Drôme department in France * L'Éto ...

. His team lost to Étoile Sportive du Sahel Volleyball Club the Tunisian League Super Playoff and the

Tunisian Cup The Tunisian Cup (), formerly known as Tunisian President Cup (1956–2011), is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition in Football in Tunisia, Tunisian football, organized annually by the Tunisian Football Federati ...

. In 1995 Soto debuted with the Senior National Team. After being played for the Puerto Rican club Caribes de San Sebastián for the 2001 season, Soto signed with the Belgian club

Noliko Maaseik Greenyard Maaseik is a Belgian professional men's volleyball club from the city of Maaseik. They compete in the Lotto Volley League, and their home stadium is Steengoed Arena. Greenyard Maaseik holds most of the titles in the Lotto Volley L ...

. With this club, Soto played the

2001–02 CEV Champions League The 2001–02 CEV Champions League was the 43rd edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. League round Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D 4th Finals First leg ...

, reaching only the quarterfinals and the semifinals in the Belgian League. He then played with Caribes de San Sebastián topping the regular season scoring department with 550 points. Soto played with the Italian club Cagliari Volley from 2002 to 2006, winning the A-2 Championship in the 2004/05 season, the club was promoted to Serie A-1 the following season. He was awarded ASES Puerto Rican Best Male Athlete for the 2006 year. Soto played the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic were his national team ended up in seventh place of eight teams with a 1-5 mark. The Puerto Rican club Playeros de San Juan signed Soto for the 2005 season and he also played there until the 2006 season. At 2006 FIVB World Championship in Japan, he became the Best Scorer of the tournament and helped his National Team to reach the 12th place. He ended playing for the Panasonic Panthers in the Japanese League in the 2006/2007 season. He was selected as flag bearer for Puerto Rico in the 2007 edition in Rio de Janeiro, when he was the tournament's Best Scorer and helped his team reach the fifth place. Soto is nicknamed "Picky". Serving as the team captain Soto was named the tournament's Best Scorer at the 2007 NORCECA Championship, finishing with 104 points on 94 spikes, five blocks and five aces. On June 25, 2008, Soto announced that he would take part in a promotional campaign for

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...

. Soto played the 2007–08 and the 2008–09 Russian Super League with

Lokomotiv Novosibirsk Lokomotiv Novosibirsk () is a Russian professional volleyball club, based in Novosibirsk, playing in Russian Volleyball Super League. Achievements * CEV Champions League *: (x1) 2013 * FIVB Club World Championship *: (x1) 2013 * Russian Cham ...

. Soto signed with the Turkish league champion club based in Izmir,

Arkas Spor Arkas Spor is a professional volleyball team based in İzmir, Turkey. It plays in the Turkish Men's Volleyball League and in the CEV Champions League. The Körfez Sports Club began competing in the 2nd volleyball league in the 1999-00 season. I ...

for the 2009/10 season with the hunger of winning a championship. After winning the bronze medal in the 2009 NORCECA Championship, Soto was meant to report himself to Arkas and was notified to the Puerto Rican Federation to do it and received legal support by the local lawyer Fernando Olivero in the dispute with the club. He later commented that he had to stay in Puerto Rico in order to help both his father and one of his brother that were ill at that time and that he felt exhausted after the continental championship. Soto joined the Puerto Rican club Mets de Guaynabo for the 2010 season. He won with his team the Bronze medal at the 2010 Pan-American Cup. He suffered an injury during the Pan American Cup and could not play until the playoffs. He was not able to play the 2011 season because he went under surgery to repair an injury in his right shoulder. Coming from a shoulder injury, Soto joined the Puerto Rican club Capitanes de Arecibo for the 2012/13 season after his contract was sold by Mets de Guaynabo and was selected for the All-Star game. But he suffered an injury during the match and was replaced by Erick Haddock. He recovered to lead his team in scoring and being third in the league during the regular season. And later in January 2013, helped his club to win the Puerto Rican league championship. Instead of rejoining his champion club, Soto announced that he would switch to beach volleyball. He played the 2013/14 Puerto Rican league season with Arecibo and was chosen to play the 2013/14 season All-Star game. He helped his club to reach the final series, but they lost to Mets de Guaynabo the local Championship. He played the 2014 FIVB World Championship in Poland, reaching the 21st place after posting a 1–4 record in the pool play with his National Team. Soto then played the Puerto Rican league, breaking the current scoring record of 5,151 set by compatriot Luis Rodríguez, setting himself the goal of reaching 6,000 points. He later won the 2014 Season of the Puerto Rican League Championship with Capitanes de Arecibo, leading his team with 16 points in the final match and securing a berth for the 2015 FIVB Club World Championship. He participated with his national team in the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, were his team succeeded to reach the semifinals for the first time but lost the medal hopes after losing to Brazil in the semifinals and Canada in the Bronze Medal match. At the 2015 FIVB Club World Championship held in Betim, Brazil, Soto's club participated as NORCECA representative and he served as team captain. His club lost 0-3 to Brazilian Sada Cruzeiro and also 0-3 to the Russian

Zenit Kazan VC Zenit-Kazan (), until 2008 known as Dinamo Tattransgaz Kazan (), is a professional men's volleyball team based in Kazan, Russia. It plays in the Super League (11-time champion). Achievements International competitions * CEV Champions Leag ...

to end its participation in tied fifth place. Soto then played with Capitanes de Arecibo in the Puerto Rican league, helping his club to claim the third place after falling to the later Champions Mets de Guaynabo in the semifinals, when he could not play because of a heel injury. Soto played the 2014–2016 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Cup trying to secure a ticket to the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in what he defined a last minute decision to close up his career, but his team fell short losing to Cuba in the semifinal round. He was acquired via draft by the Puerto Rican club Mets de Guaynabo, that was about not to play the 2016/17 season and do not play the pre-season tournament, Soto arrived to a club that decided not to include any foreign player. The club won the Puerto Rican Championship for the second straight season.

College

Attended Indiana University – Ft. Wayne, where he was a two time AVCA Division I First Team All-American (1999, 2000) and a Second Team All-American selection in 1998.

Clubs

* Bucaneros de Arroyo (1995-1998) * Caribes de San Sebastián (1998-2002) *

(2000-2001) *

(2001–2002) * Alimenti Sardi Cagliari (2002–2003) * Terra Sarda Cagliari (2003–2005) * Tiscali Cagliari (2005–2006) * Playeros de San Juan (2005–2006) *

Panasonic Panthers is a men's volleyball team based in Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan. It plays in SV.League. The club was founded in 1951. It is owned by the Panasonic Corporation. History Osaka Bluteon was established as a volleyball club for Matsushita Electric ...

(2006–2007) *

(2007–2009) *

Izmir (2009–2010) * Hyundai Capital Skywalkers (2010–2011) * Mets de Guaynabo (2010–2012) *

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

(2012–2015) * Mets de Guaynabo (2016–2017)

Awards

Individuals

Clubs

* 1999 Puerto Rican League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Caribes de San Sebastián * 2000-01

–

Runner-Up, with Club Sportif Sfaxien * 2000-01 Tunisian League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Club Sportif Sfaxien *

–

Runner-Up, with Club Sportif Sfaxien * 2002 Belgium League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* 2002 Belgium Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Noliko Maaseik * 2004-05 Italian A2 Championship Champion – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Terra Sarda Cagliari * 2010-11 Korean V-League – Bronze medal, with Hyundai Capital Skywalkers * 2012-13 Puerto Rican League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Capitanes de Arecibo * 2013-14 Puerto Rican League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Capitanes de Arecibo * 2014 Puerto Rican League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Capitanes de Arecibo * 2015 Puerto Rican League – Bronze medal, with Capitanes de Arecibo * 2016-17 Puerto Rican League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Mets de Guaynabo

References

External links

FIVB Profile

Italian League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soto, Hector 1978 births Volleyball players from New York City Living people Puerto Rican men's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Expatriate volleyball players in Tunisia Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Competitors at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in volleyball Pan American Games volleyball players for Puerto Rico