BEACH VOLLEYBALL : Masakayan Almost All the Way Back

If Liz Masakayan didn’t play with a large blue brace on her right knee, it would be virtually impossible to tell she had major reconstructive surgery six months ago.

Masakayan, a former UCLA All-American, was almost at full strength in Saturday’s pro beach volleyball tournament at Hermosa Beach. Her jump serve was intact and her speed had returned. For the first time in months, Masakayan played the in-your-face style that has made her one of the tour’s best players.

“Physically I’m very happy and where I want to be, but I wasn’t prepared for the whole mental and emotional part of this injury,” Masakayan said. “I haven’t had my confidence.”

But she’s quickly gaining it. Masakayan and partner Karolyn Kirby, seeded third, made it through the winners’ bracket semifinals for the first time this season with a 15-8 victory over second-seeded Angela Rock and Linda Hanley. Kirby-Masakayan defeated sixth-seeded Elaine Roque and Gail Castro, 15-9, in the quarterfinals.

The winningest team in women’s pro beach volleyball history, Kirby and Masakayan have struggled in 1995, losing their No. 1 seeding and winning only one of six events by coming back through the losers’ bracket.

Top-seeded Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno cruised through their matches Saturday. McPeak-Reno defeated No. 8 Lisa Arce and Christine Schaefer, 15-5, in a morning winners’ bracket quarterfinal and No. 5 Barbra Fontana and Lori Forsythe, 15-8, in the semifinals.