Liz Masakayan

Liz Masakayan (born December 31, 1964) is a Filipino-American former indoor and beach volleyball player, and current coach. She participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics with the United States women's national volleyball team, and as a beach volleyball player won a total of 47 tournaments in her career. Her first year was spent on the junior varsity squad, and the last two on the varsity counterpart, where the team won the California state championship in 1981.

Masakayan played Little League baseball when she was ten, the first year it allowed girls to play due to Title IX. Masakayan was a two-time AVCA first-team All-American, and was named the 1985–86 UCLA Female Athlete of the Year.

National team As an indoor player, Masakayan was an outside hitter for the United States women's national volleyball team for five years, and competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She won bronze medals at the 1990 World Championships in Beijing, 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, and 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow.

Beach volleyball

The pair of Karolyn Kirby and Masakayan were the most dominant team in the early 1990s, winning 29 tournaments. the 1993 co-Most Valuable Player, and the Best Defensive Player in 1991 and 1992. They captured the first tournament of the millennium in February 2000 in Vitória. The pair also won the bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in Marseille.

Throughout Masakayan's beach volleyball career, she won 47 tournaments and reached the final four 61 times. In 2001, she was the Santa Barbara champion, and in December captured the bronze medal at the FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) season finale in Fortaleza, where Masakayan announced her retirement from international competition. She retired from domestic competition after playing four tournaments in 2005.

Coaching Indoor coaching

As an indoor coach, Masakayan was an assistant coach at UCLA when they won the National Championships in 1991 and runner-up in 1992. Masakayan was inducted in the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Hall of Fame in December 2011.

Beach volleyball coaching Masakayan coached the beach volleyball team of Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh, who were ranked second in the AVP in 2007.