Iowa volleyball 2023 recruit and setter Kaia Mateo is used to being the underdog.

As a four-year varsity starter and senior captain, Mateo led Avenues: The World School NYC to a 20-1 record and its first- ever state title match.

Now a Hawkeye, the setter is determined to change the trajectory of a squad that hasn’t achieved a winning conference record in over two decades.

“I love being the underdog because it forces me to work 10 times harder,” Mateo told The Daily Iowan. “I love when people underestimate me because it feeds the fire burning inside.”

Iowa came on Mateo’s radar when former Hawkeye head coach Vicki Brown found, reached out, and offered her a spot early in her high school career.

Mateo took an official visit to Iowa City and fell in love with the campus and was overwhelmed by the support of student-athletes at the university. She committed to the Hawkeyes the summer after her sophomore year.

After Brown’s dismissal in November 2021, however, Mateo wasn’t sure if she was going to stay committed to Iowa. But after talking with newly appointed head coach Jim Barnes and the rest of the staff, she felt that their “visions, dreams, and mindsets aligned,” so she remained a Hawkeye.

Even through the coaching uncertainties, Mateo stayed level-headed and had a dominant junior year. She was named the World School NYC Athlete of the Year, Offensive Athlete of the Year, and Most Versatile Player.

Mateo’s athletic ability not only showed on the volleyball court, but on the track as well. She holds the World School NYC track and field records in the indoor 55-meter, 200-meter, and 300-meter, as well as the outdoor 100-meter and long jump.

Outside the gym, Mateo spends her time seeing and creating art, hanging out with her immediate and large extended family, and doing volunteer work. Mateo was a member of the Food and Hunger Advocacy Club and the Zero Waste Club in high school and volunteered at St. Clements Food Bank, Holy Apostles, and City Meals on Wheels.

Mateo also created three bilingual children’s books addressing ocean contamination and read them aloud to second graders in New York City and Sao Paulo, Brazil, over a Zoom call.

“Volleyball aside, skills aside, just as people, [the class of 2023] are great human beings,” junior setter Bailey Ortega said in a press conference. “You can tell they’re so passionate, and they’re coming into this program just as hungry as all of us who have been here. I think that’s great to have in a freshman class because it’s going to make all of us work harder and want to be better.”

Mateo reported early and will gain experience with the Hawkeyes throughout the spring semester. Three other commits — outside hitters Alyssa Worden and Gabby Deery and libero Olivia Lombradi — will join her in the summer.

“I play volleyball because of the pure joy it brings me. I want to spread that to my teammates, our fans, and this school,” Mateo said.  “I can’t wait to grind in the gym and on the court so I can play the game I love so much on the big stage.”