Fil-Am athlete honored in LA

(Part II)

LOS ANGELES — Perhaps the reason why we’ve never really heard of her until now was because she’s never really heard of us. Volleyball star Liz Masakayan doesn’t know a lot about her Filipino roots. Admittedly, the only Filipino about her is her last name.

"I don’t really know much," she said.

And who could blame her? She was only 4 _ years old when her family migrated to Santa Monica, California. Since then, she’s only been back once . . . for three days.

"I think it was in 1998 or 1999. We had a competition in Japan but we lost early. So we had a few days to ourselves. We just bought a ticket and decided to go to the Philippines the next day," she said.

The 40-year old Filipino-Slovakian was born in Quezon City where she says her father was from. Unfortunately, that’s the only "Filipino" thing she remembers about her father who passed away when she was only 10.

But in a quick phone interview, the esteemed volleyball athlete said she’s willing to go back to the Philippines to hold volleyball clinics for kids and other enthusiasts.

Volleyball is also steadily gaining popularity in the country where people went gaga over Brazilian Volleyball Grand Prix star Leila Barros. And Masakayan has had an impressive record in both indoor and beach volleyball. She can definitely help inspire more young Filipinos to get into the sport.

The following are some of the information written about Masakayan in her own website:

Masakayan first caught the attention of many when she led the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to a National Championship in 1984 where she also won the tournament’s MVP honors. As a Bruin, she owned numerous single season and career records, clearly establishing herself as one of the greatest all-time players. In February, 1996, she was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame.

On the national level, she has been known as an aggressive hitter and an exceptional defensive player.

From being one of the premier collegiate and US National Team members, Masakayan became one of the best on the beach. She and former partner Karolyn Kirby remains to be the top winning team in the history of Women’s Pro Beach Volleyball Association (WPVA). Masakayan’s powerful jump serve and excellent ball control earned her the second place in career earnings for the WPVA.

Fans say they like Masakayan’s outstanding physical skills and her intensely competitive nature. But despite her world-class-athlete-caliber, she remains personable and approachable.

In a survey of fans conducted by Volleyball Magazine in 1995, Masakayan was voted the "Most Popular Beach Volleyball Player." Her appeal to the fans pushed Reebok execs to include her as one of the three elite female athletes in a fitness video currently being marketed by the popular sports brand.

She has been on the cover of Volleyball Magazines in May 1994, September 1993, December 1992 and July 1998, before the Olympics. Masakayan has also been a featured athlete in Sport’s Illustrated and other US sports and fitness magazines; and has done endorsements for a number of products.

Over-all in her career, Masakayan is fourth in all-time wins with 47, fifth in all-time tournaments played with 181; ranked third in prize money, winning $620,000 in her career. She is also ranked as the No. 1 team of all time in the USA and the world with partner Kirby. Together, they have a total of 29 wins — 29 on the WPVA tour and three on the FIVB World Tour, including the inaugural beach volleyball event at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Her career highlights include 1986-1990 USA National Team Member; 1988 USA Olympic Team Member — Seoul, Korea; 1987 Pan Am Games Bronze Medal Winner; 1986 Goodwill Games Bronze Medal Winner; 1985-1986 UCLA Female Athlete of the Year; 1984 Broderick Award Winner as the Nation’s Premier Collegiate Player and 1984 NCAA Champions.

As mentioned in the opening of this column, the accomplished volleyball athlete is willing to give back to the Filipino volleyball fans, no matter how little she knows of this half of her personality. And perhaps as she gives back through clinics in Manila, she can also start learning about her Filipino roots. * * * To reach this writer, log on to www.jannelleso.net.