Kirby/Masakayan - What A Difference

by Rick Capone

For Release: July 18, 1998

NEW YORK, N. Y. - What a difference four years makes.

Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan dominated the Women's Professional Volleyball Association (WPVA) tour like no other team between 1993 and 1995.

On top of that, the pair had helped save the WPVA tour when a number of players joined a competing tour in 1993. Kirby and Masakayan stuck with the WPVA and joined forces to become one of the best teams in history. They were on their way, most probably, to winning the Gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Everything was going great, but then disaster struck. Let's take a look back at their story.

Flashback

September 1993 - Kirby and Masakayan have completed one of the most successful years on the WPVA tour. They won 12 out of 14 events, which tied a record for most wins in a season. They had a record of 75-5 in matches and had won the last nine tournaments of the season, including three majors.

July 1994 - Kirby and Masakayan defeat Brazil's Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel to win the Gold medal at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia. They are the best team in the world and no one has yet come close to competing with them. They are considered the hand-down favorites for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, just two years away.

September 1994 - Once again, the combination of Kirby and Masakayan dominated the WPVA tour during the 1994 season, winning 11 out of 13 events. They posted a 72-3 record, which included a 55 match win streak and 13 straight tournament titles. Both records were "carryovers" from the 1993 season.

November 1994 - Disaster struck at an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Santos, Brazil, as Masakayan tears her ACL. She undergoes major knee reconstruction and begins extensive and accelerated rehab.

Six months later - The start of the 1995 WPVA season and Masakayan is trying to comeback. A lot of volleyball people think it is too soon. She and Kirby play hard, winning three tournaments, including two majors over the new "hot" team of Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno. But still, the two are no where near the level they had been playing the previous two years.

August 1995 - Disaster part II. At an FIVB event in Espinho, Portugal, Masakayan breaks her kneecap -- the same knee that had been injured less than a year earlier. She has surgery a month later and begins rehab again.

February 1996 - Masakayan wants her former partner to have a chance to make the team and she knows it will not be with her. The WPVA has its earliest start ever for the WPVA with indoor events in Fairfax, Va., and New York. Masakayan is returns and teams with Angela Rock. Kirby wins the Fairfax event with Christine Schaefer. Masakayan and Rock finish second in both indoor events as the Olympic promise for the Kirby/Masakayan tandem has dissolved.

April 1996 - Masakayan is no where near the player she was. Playing with a large, bulky knee brace and having to "ice down" in a bucket of ice after each match, she valiantly continues to play in the hopes of making the Olympic beach team to complete a "double" She was a member of the 1988 Seoul Olympic indoor team for the United States.

June 1996 - Masakayan and Rock eliminated Kirby (team with Lisa Arce) from the Olympic Trials in Baltimore, Md. before being ousted themselves in the preliminary rounds. The two former partners who had dominated the WPVA and the FIVB, who stuck with the WPVA and hold it together through its darkest time, were not going to the Atlanta Olympics Games.

The rest of 1996 was "unremarkable" for both players, though Kirby did team with Reno to win the WPVA event in San Diego. It had been a long year with the Olympic Trials and both of them were looking towards a the off season for a much needed rest.

The WPVA's 1997 season - A new year and a new season. Kirby, who had off-season shoulder surgery, is playing with Reno. Together they win three tournaments during the 1997 season and Kirby is starting to show some of her old form. Masakayan, now pretty much fully recovered from her knee injuries, plays with a newcomer, Elaine Youngs, a player she had coached while an assistant coach at UCLA. Together, the two take three tournaments during the season, including the season ending tournament in Hawaii. Masakayan is playing great, concentrating on defense and moving as easily as she had prior to her injuries.

February 1998 - During the off-season, Reno and Youngs decide to play together, leaving their former partners, Kirby and Masakayan looking for partners of their own. They decide to team together once again, but unfortunately, with the financial problems of the WPVA, there is no pro beach tour for the women in the United States in 1998. Kirby and Masakayan finish seventh in the opening FIVB event in Brazil.

July 1998 - Kirby and Masakayan are reunited once again for the Goodwill Games in New York City. The pair post a ninth and fifth in June FIVB events as the 1994 Goodwill Games champions earned a wild card entry for the 1998 Goodwill Games.

Kirby and Masakayan are a few years older, but also a few years wiser. Together, however, they will try to rekindle their old playing magic and attempt to capture the Beach Volleyball event at these Goodwill Games. It is a good story. One of determination, perseverance, and friendship.

Considering how well they both played in 1997 and considering how talented they still are playing, you cannot count this team out. They will be prepared. They will come to play. The other teams should be well cautioned never to underestimate talent and experience. Kirby and Masakayan have both and will be aiming to defend their Goodwill Games title. With the home court advantage, and with the crowd behind them, Kirby and Masakayan are together again and will be a tough team to beat.