Multi-sport Athlete Masaki Picks Laredo For Volleybal

Wednesday - May 12, 2010
By Jack Danilewicz
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Kailua’s versatile Nycole Masaki. Photo from the Masaki family.

In the afternoons lately, when classes recess at Kailua High, Nycole Masaki is quickly en route to 24 Fitness in Kaneohe for a workout. If she were a football player, her coach would invoke the jargon of the day and refer to Masaki as having a great “motor.” No argument there from those who know her.

Masaki’s main sport is volleyball, and she also was on the swimming and water polo teams at Kailua this past school year. Indeed, her time was always accounted for after school until recently.

“Most of the time, I was at practice,” Masaki said of her high school sports schedule, which included countless hours with her Oahu Volleyball Club.“That was to be expected. My parents always encouraged me to stay active, and sports have kept me busy as well as school.”

Masaki’s next challenge will come at Laredo Community College in Texas, which she will attend on a volleyball scholarship beginning at the end of July. In two years, she hopes to move on to a four-year university. If she doesn’t play volleyball beyond her sophomore year, she can fall back on her gift for concentration in the classroom by taking advantage of academic scholarships. Masaki has a 3.8 grade-point average and is in advanced-placement courses at Kailua, where she graduates this month.


 

“If I can get picked up (by a four-year college volleyball program), great,“said Masaki, who was a First Team All-Conference selection by the OIA East Red coaches last November.“If not, I’ll transfer back home or go to Oregon State. I lived in Oregon for six years when I was younger. Going there (to Laredo, Texas) will be an experience and being that far from home. I’m excited for bigger opportunities. It’s not as condensed as on an island.”

While Masaki fills time normally reserved for practice with hours spent at 24 Fitness, she’s also awaiting a workout plan from the Laredo coaching staff, which she will follow over the next few weeks.

Her recruitment by Laredo came without her ever visiting the campus, so she spent a lot of time on the Internet researching the campus and town. “July will be my first trip there, but it looks really nice, although I hear it is hot,” she said. “I googled it with my parents. It’s is really south.”

Kailua athletic director Ramona Takahashi likes Masaki’s prospects at the next level.“She’s a person of integrity - she’s deserving of her success,” she said. “Every teacher or coach who has known her here has only positive things to say about her. She exemplifies class and sportsmanship.”

Masaki credits her parents, Leyton and Coriann, with instilling her work ethic. “They always pushed me to do well in school and go on to college,” she said.

Masaki showed her athleti-

cism and versatility most in her senior year. A competitive swimmer at a young age, she returned to the sport to swim the 50m and 100m freestyle races in the winter and played water polo for the first time this spring.


“One of my teachers encouraged me to play more sports this year since it was my last year,” she said.“A lot of my friends were playing, too, so I played water polo. Swimming was pretty easy for me - it was actually my first sport - and it was something new. It was easy for me to adapt to the ball handling.”

When Masaki switched to volleyball from age 9 through 13, no one was surprised. Her aunt Mani is the head coach at Kailua, and her mom, Coriann, is the Surfriders’ JV coach. Another aunt, Tracey Pa, also is a Kailua assistant coach.

“We’re a big volleyball family,” she admitted.“I used to always watch my older cousin (Delcey Pa) play for Kailua, and I wanted to go a different route (than swimming) at that age.”

 

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