26 Inside Hokie Sports THE OFFICIAL KIDS’ CLUB OF VIRGINIA TECH ATHLETICS TO CHOOSE FROM Visit hokiesports.com/hokiekidsclub to join! ORANGE LEVEL: FREE MAROON LEVEL: $35 TWO PLANS “He helped me through everything. He still helps me through a lot,” Saez-Royuela Ariza admitted. Whenever Saez-Royuela Ariza speaks on his path as a Virginia Tech student-athlete, or even any sort of past achievement or future goals forhimself, hedoesnothesitatetocredit his teammates. “I think it’s really helpful to have other internationals on the team, especially if you’re from the same continent. We have two Portuguese student-athletes, me from Spain, and another from Italy, and we are really close to each other. We have a lot of the same habits, and we try to help each other a lot.” There is a certain brotherhood that bonds Hokies men’s tennis together, regardless of nationality. At the time of this interview, Saez-Royuela Ariza was grouped around his teammates Manuel Goncalves, Hugo Maia, and Ryan Morgan, decompressing after practice, watching a soccer game. The four of them were mentally prepped for an upcoming set of matches in Norfolk, Va., against Old Dominion and Wisconsin. Although tennis is recognized around the world as a sport that showcases individual talents, Saez-Royuela Ariza solely noted that he wants his team to succeed in 2023. “I want us to make it back to the national tournament,” he optimistically stated. “My first year here we made it, we ranked in the top 30 in the country. I know we can do it again. Last year, we had a really tough start, but we finished strong. We actually finished the season playing really good tennis, and I’m proud of that.” When asked about himself, Saez-Royuela Ariza had to take a beat to acknowledge some of his own personal highs and hopes for the future. The economics major smiled when he talked about his academic focus and his career aspirations. “I like money,” he laughed as he admitted. “I want to go into banking in the United States. There’s a lot of opportunity here. Before that, I want to play tennis for a graduate school in England and continue to play there.” Saez-Royuela Ariza has lived out a once in a lifetime experience at Virginia Tech. There’s not many people that can say they excelled enough to receive a scholarship offer, overcome a language barrier, then win matches in the strongest tennis conference in the NCAA. The level-headed, humble student-athlete took a brief moment to reflect. “I will say that I am proud that I’m going to get a degree in a foreign country, that I learned a different language by myself and then I lived here. I came here knowing no one. So I will always be proud of that.” Continued from page 25
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