April's Beach Volleyball Log

Liz Masakayan - the "instigator"

Writing about self growth on GoGirlWorld Liz talks honestly about something all of us athletes had to do - discovering the mysteries of herself, her sport and the opposite sex.

"By the time I was 13, I was physically more mature than most of my friends. I had grown into my body at an early age, and I was already 5-foot-8-inches tall. With what I thought was my maturity and confidence, I easily became one of the leaders of the group. I was the kid who wasn't afraid to..."

Be sure to download your FREE copy of How To Stop Serving Like A Wimp, today.

Liz Masakayan: Special Recognition, Awards

The Womens Sports Foundation "Billies Grand March of Athletes" click here.



Liz is named to the US Women's All Era Beach Volleyball Players 1988 -2003. Check out the article.



Liz Masakayan: Despite two major knee injuries during her pro beach career, Masakayan ranks among the leaders in events played (fourth, 202), titles (fifth, 47, including 41 domestically) and earnings (seventh, $669,120). Masakayan compiled 86 podium placements and 107 "final four" appearances in her career. She also won an "unofficial" FIVB world title with Karolyn Kirby in 1993. Click Here.






NCAA All Tournament Tournaments listed on Hickok Sports...click here.



UCLA women's volleyball has had three Honda Award winners. Liz Masakayan won the award for the 1984-85 year, while Natalie Williams was the award's recipient in both 1991-92 and 1992-93. Meriwether is UCLA's first Honda Award nominee since Annett Buckner in 1994-95. For more



Division I Women's Volleyball All-Championship Teams



UCLA Magazine names Liz to....click here.



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"Little Sense of Balance" by Liz Masakayan

First, let me explain that everything I'm about to write could only come from me now that I am an adult, and with that, a much more of an aware and in touch person with what I feel.

It's easy to look back and know now where my choices came from. If you were to ask me then about any obstacles I had to overcome when I was a teenager, I would have told you that everything was fine, except for the fact that I felt cheated that all my friends had more material things than I did and that I had the strictest mom in the world.

As an adolescent and a young adult, I never knew how competititve and athletic I was. I just played, worked hard, had fun and enjoyed being popular for it. It was all very simple for me at the time. It was so simple that when I was 16, going into my senior year of high school and starting to get letters from universities wanting me to play volleyball at their school, I had no idea that I could get free college education because of my athleticism. I was very excited and very appreciative of what I was being offered, never once thinking I had actually earned it because I was always just doing what I loved  to do--sports.

I can truly say that I felt as though there were no hurdles that I had to overcome. The biggest barrier then, which is not as big of an issue now, was the lack of opportunities available for girls to play sports. I played Little League Baseball at 10 years old when they first allowed girls to play. Then when I was a junior in high school, we finally got the opportunity to form the first ever girl's soccer team. I already had been playing club soccer for 5 years and really wanted to play in high school like all the boys did.

Also, the closest club volleyball was about 30-45 minutes away. Today, there's about 10 different one's in the area. I relied a lot on the other girl's moms to bring me to practices and competitons since my mom was working all the time having to raise four kids.

Because I believed I didn't really have any hang ups or handicaps, it gave me every opportunity in my mind to do whatever it was I wanted to do. That was a good thing and bad thing all in one.

On a positive note, I worked very hard and had a lot of desire to be better at sports and academics. That gave me alot of attention and love that any kid in a big family with one parent subconsciously wants to have. But, unknowingly, my sense of self was very wrapped up in my success. My value as a person was determined by winning or losing and that can be a very dangerous mindset. If I succeeded, I was a "good" person and everyone liked me. And if I failed, I was worthless.

It was a very conditional love I had for myself which attacked my self esteem and led to self criticism and negativity. This motivated me to improve and do more at all costs because I was never satisfied, but it came from an unhealthy place and at the expense of having a lack of balance in my life. It was an extreme focus,  but not worth the things I was sacrificing and compensating.

Even though my mother and the nature of a single parent home installed a lot of great qualities, it also left me with a little sense of balance. We were all in survival mode, and if we were to stop and really feel and assess the situation, it would have been counterproductive to enduring our circumstances. This lack of balance that I experienced in my youth has been a huge hurdle in my young adult life. It led me to lose a sense of self awareness- enough to get injured numerous times, lose a sense of perspective in life, enough to not fully enjoy the process that got me the result, and lose a sense of how to choose quality relationships enough to not have had the confidence to be a good wife and mother in order to have a healthy marriage.

But these are all things I know now and am lucky that desire and determination I learned as a child has given me the courage to improve my sense of balance today. I'm grateful for the hard lessons I have learned, but hope that young kids today have a different and healthier avenue to encounter them.

More important than anything I have accomplished in sports I have learned and strongly believed in one thing. I think the most significant purpose for anyone is to put effort into figuring out a way to have a healthy marriage so that as parents one can raise your children together (in the same house) to be complete and balanced individuals. After all, our children are society's future and we need to be great role models as parents and people.

This story was written by Liz Masakayan exclusively for the Volleyball Voices project created and produced by April Chapple.

For a complete list of Liz Masakayans' accomplishments please click USA Volleyball in the Category section.

Volleyball Voices is copywritten by April Chapple. All rights reserved.

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Liz Masakayan Volleyball Achievements

    LIZ MASAKAYAN VOLLEYBALL ACHIEVEMENTS

Intelligent, natural leader, thrives under pressure, intensely competitive. All of these describe one of the most accomplished female volleyball players in the world. Liz Masakayan has successfully transitioned from one of the premier collegiate and U.S. National Team members to one of the best on the beach.

     BEACH CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

WPVA (Women's Professional Volleyball Association)

FIVB (Federation of International Volleyaball)

• 1999 FIVB Ranked 4th in the World, 2nd in the US






• 1999 FIVB World Championships Bronze Medal Winner






• 1999 Winner of 4 out of 7 domestic events






• 1998 FIVB Ranked 6th in the World, 3rd in the U.S.






• 1997 WPVA Best of the Beach Champion






• 1996 WPVA 5Top 5 Finishes






• 1995 WPVA Most Inspirational Award






• 1995 U.S. Open Champion






• 1995 WPVA U.S Shootout Champion






• 1994 WPVA Best Hitter Award






• 1994 WPVA Winner of 11 out of 13 Tournaments






• 1994 Goodwill Games Gold Medal winner - St. Petersburg, Russia






• 1994 FIVB World Champion - La Serena, Chile






• 1994 FIVB World's Most Outstanding Player of the year






• 1993 FIVB Winner of the World Beach Series






• 1993 WPVA Co-Most Valuable Player & Best Hitter Award






• 1993 WPVA Winner of 12 out of 13 tournaments






• 1992 WPVA Most Valuable Player & Best Defensive Player Award






• 1992 WPVA Winner of 5 Tournaments






• 1991 WPVA Best Defensive Player Award






• 1991 WPVA World Champion - Las Vegas, NV

    INDOOR CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• 1986 - 1990 USA National Team Member






• 1990 World  Championships Bronze Medal Winner - Beijing, China






• 1989 USA National Team Coaches Award






• 1988 USA Olympic Team Member - Seoul, Korea






• 1987 Pan Am Gmes Bronze Medal Winner - Indianapolis, IN






• 1987 Zone Championships Silver Medal Winner - Havana, Cuba






• Goodwill Games Bronze Medal Winner - Moscow Russia






• 1985-1986 UCLA All Uiversity Athlete






• 1984 Broderick Award Winner - Nation's Premier Collegiate Player






• 1984 NCAA Champions - UCLA






• 2-time 1st Team All American






• 3-time 1st Team All Conference






• 2-time NCAA All-Tournament Team

Liz was instrumental in leading UCLA to a National Championship in 1984 where she also won the tournament's MVP Award. She clearly established herself as one of the greatest all-time players, not only at UCLA where she owns a single season and career records, but on the national level where she excelled as an aggressive hitter and an exceptional defensive player. In February, 1996, she was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame. 

Liz had rapidly transferred her indoor success and intelligence to her beach game. Her powerful jump serve and excellent ball control makes her and her partner, Karolyn Kirby, the top winning team in WPVA history. She is also second in career earnings for the WPVA. Combine her outstanding physical skills with her intensely competitive nature and you get a world class athlete. She exhibits the rare combination of attributes that lead to greatness, yet she is personable and approachable. Her charisma sets her apart as a crowd favorite wherever she travels. In fact, in a survey of fans conducted by Volleyball Magazine in 1995, Liz was voted the most popular female beach volleyball player.

Liz is featured as one of the three elite female athletes in a fitness video currently being marketed by Reebok. She has been on the cover of Volleyball Magazine four times (May 1994, September 1993, December 1992 and July 1988 before the Olympics).  In addition, Liz has been a featured athlete in Sports Illustrated, Harper's Bazaar, Outside, Shape, Self, abd Women's Sport and Fitness Magazines along with appearing in television ads for Reebok and Evian. She also had a speaking role in the HBO show, Arliss.

To visit Liz's website click www.lizmasakayan.com

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liz masakayan olympic volleyball ucla volleyball FIVB Goodwill Games Pan Am Games All American girls volleyball womens volleyball womens beach volleyball usa volleyball volleyball volleyball voices girls health girls fitness girls sports womens health womens fitness college volleyball indoor volleyball

Liz Masakayan: Coaching Volleyball

“This approach to volleyball – especially at the high school level – has never really been done,” said Liz Masakayan, who also appeared at the press conference. “This group of coaches, combined with an amazing complete package of tips, techniques and analysis will give these young women a true advantage in their volleyball careers and hopefully will make a distinct difference in their young lives.”



Invitations to participate in the Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy will awarded to 128 high school girls and based on applications submitted to the Academy and reviewed by the coaching staff. Applications are available via the Academy’s website at www.karchacademy.com. Tuition for the five-day program is $2,450 per player and includes all on-court activities, coaches’ analysis, film analysis, room and board, and an equipment and apparel package. Read More.



Karch Kiraly says . . . “Liz may be the toughest, most tenacious player I’ve ever seen, having come back from eight knee surgeries and played through knee injuries that would put any normal human on a stretcher. That tenacity and her patience serve her well as a coach, along with her ability to “play big” – to play taller than she was, and to play her best in the biggest matches. (karchacademy.com)



Liz has always been a coach/player. Here is one of the many articles she has done in Volleyball Magazine.. Set the Bad Pass

By Liz Masakayan and Angela Rock



No matter how good your partner is, there will come a time-usually during a frantic rally-when you'll be forced to set a less-than-ideal pass. The bad news is, there's no sure'-fire way to turn it into a great set. The good news is that there are techniques that can help. We'll take a look at some ways to handle the tough pass and create hittable sets. Read More.







Liz talks about nutrition for athletes at the Women's sports Foundation "Go Get Fit". Read more



Read Liz's Coaching Bio on the Hilton Hotel Family Web Page...click here.



Sports Talk Inspires Women Former Olympian Speaks at 5th Annual Distinguished Women in Sports Lecture By Melissa Thomas-Anderson, Staff Writer



Published Tuesday, February 4, 2003



Issue 69 / Volume 83



Jeff Howell



Former Olympian Liz Masakayan speaks at the 5th Annual Distingu-ished Women in Sports Lecture on Monday evening at 7 in Corwin Pavilion. The purpose of the event was to recognize the 17th annual National Young Girls and Women in Sports Day, which commemorates the Title IX amendment. The lecture also celebrated women’s achievement in athletics.



UCSB scored big Monday night with a visit from a former Olympic star.



Roughly 100 students and families gathered at Corwin Pavilion on Monday night to listen to former volleyball Olympian Liz Masakayan. She spoke at UCSB for the fifth annual Distinguished Women in Sports Lecture in recognition of the 17th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day, to be celebrated nationwide Wednesday. Click here.



The team also picked up women's great Liz Masakayan as their coach after the San Diego Open in June. Masakayan was Youngs' first partner and coached Youngs and McPeak.



"Since Liz has been around we started worrying only about ourselves and focused on what we are doing as a team," said Wacholder. "Liz has helped a ton."



But Masakayan cautions Wacholder's rise, from a coaching standpoint, isn't as dramatic as it seems on the surface. Read More.



"Stay active and try new things. Don’t beat yourself up for not getting the results you expect. It’s all about process and enjoying the experience."--Liz Masakayan, Pro Beach Volleyball player




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Liz Masakayan: Volleyball Player, Elite Athlete

What's so special about the CROCS beach shoe that the players wear?

Liz is a permanent part of AVP history....for more ....click here.

The Beach Volleyball Database's incredible winning record. See it here.

An Interview with Liz and Elaine Youngs when they were ranked number two in the world.

Check out Liz's AVP Player Profile page...here.

Women's Sports Foundation Athlete Bio Page...Liz Masakayan.

Liz Masakayan, who dominated the sport with partner Karolyn "KK" Kirby in the early nineties, and has more than US$600,000 in career prize money, announced that this would be her last Word Tour Event. "My debut was in 1992, in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) and I thought to say goodbye after 10 years, in Brazil as well". For more.

UCLA's All AMERICANS

Karch Kiraly says . . . “Liz may be the toughest, most tenacious player I’ve ever seen, having come back from eight knee surgeries and played through knee injuries that would put any normal human on a stretcher. That tenacity and her patience serve her well as a coach, along with her ability to “play big” – to play taller than she was, and to play her best in the biggest matches. (karchacademy.com)

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