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ARTICLE- AVP Star Nancy Mason makes her Biggest Comeback.

Even the most casual followers of pro beach volleyball know Nancy Mason—a 13-year veteran on the WPVA and AVP tours—as one of the top players in the world. The 38-year-old and her young partner, former Nebraska All-American Jenny Kropp, were ranked No. 10 going into the Huntington Beach open in early May and in the last five years alone Nancy has had 24 podium finishes on the AVP Crocs Tour.

One of the top money winners in the sport with nearly $350,000 in career earnings, the Illinois native has finished second in AVP tournaments five times—quite an accomplishment considering the recent domination of Olympic Gold Medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. And her work ethic and prolonged success is revealed in the stat that she ranks third among active players of tournaments played in with 127 events.

Ask her what is her most proud accomplishment in her long and prolific career and the answer might surprise you.

“It would be coming back from back surgery,” she says without hesitation, “and being at this point to compete again.”

In early 2007, Nancy started to feel twinges of pain and then numbness, through which she continued to play, initially thinking she could battle through and, with treatment, ride out the discomfort. Doctors said she had a structural problem in her back with little fractures of the vertebrae not uncommon in continued beach play due to the constant jarring caused from jumping and diving for balls.

Eventually, however, the symptoms grew worse and within a span of two days her right foot went completely numb and she could barely walk.

Immediate surgery was needed, which took two and a half hours last April.

“When the doctor went in he said it took a while because the fragment was so lodged in,” Nancy recalls. “He said if I hadn’t gotten the surgery right away I wouldn’t have been able to walk let alone play.”

Amazingly, only three walks after the operation, the athlete was back in the sand, slowly jogging, passing balls and setting and less than two months after surgery she was back in competition.

“It was a scary time,” she remembers, “and I was fortunate to have doctors, family and friends who supported me. I couldn’t believe that just seven weeks after surgery I felt fine—though a bit sore—and today I feel so much stronger, feeling like I’m jumping better than ever and that my body can handle all the pounding.”

One explanation for Nancy’s quick return can be attributed to her drive and work ethic, both in training and in competition, which hasn’t escaped the attention of many of her accomplished peers.

“Nancy is a hard worker who doesn’t know the word ‘quit,’” begins Misty May-Treanor. “She’s very dedicated in both improving her game as well as others who ask for her help. The latest hurdle, coming back after surgery, is a good example of her work ethic.”

“When other people might have resigned themselves to the fact that they must work extremely hard to get back, Nancy looked it right in the face and did what she had to. It’s great to have her back!”

The five-foot-nine standout admits she’s a naturally good athlete but concedes that she’s had to work harder than others to achieve her success.

“When I first moved out to Hermosa Beach (CA) to dedicate myself to playing beach volleyball, I was attracted to the lifestyle of the beach having fun, but I soon realized that just being a decent athlete wasn’t going to cut it. I had to focus on training and be sport-specific and not go out and party so much!”

It didn’t start off easy, either. Nancy had to wait tables for five years to support herself
and coach at the youth level, which she continues to do today at Manhattan Beach (CA.) Mira Costa High.

“I work hard—I have to work hard—because I’m not the best volleyball player out there. There are way better players than me but I try to evolve using my training and experience to help me win. Plus, I’m super competitive and hate to lose.”

Nancy draws more praise from another noteworthy tour pro in Olympic Bronze Medalist Holly McPeak who says, “Nancy is a smart veteran player who has a great understanding of the game. Her defense is probably her strength but she does everything well!”

That, not surprisingly, comes from experience and a workout regime that would force lesser athletes to drop out.

Nancy is no slacker in the off-season as she spends November through January, “getting my mind away from volleyball and recovering by doing cardio and normal weightlifting focusing on the arms, shoulders and back.”

In January, she ups her strength training to be more sport-specific and gets back in the sand, working on explosive movements and sprints while upping her cardio and conditioning by doing “two days on the beach, three in the gym and interweaving pilates.”

Come February, the intensity of the workouts just prior to the March through October tour season picks up. Nancy says she practices four days a week “for two to three hours” while hitting the gym for three days still and adding a beach workout once a week. “I up the intensity of plyometrics and weight training,” she explains, “but don’t lift as heavy because of my back...I focus on being fast, explosive and reactionary.”

During the AVP tour season, the athletes are playing practically every weekend and “to practice two days a week you’re lucky, let alone hit the gym two days a week, but I try hard to do so for maintenance. I do a ton of core work and, for me, a lot of exercises for my back.”

Working with noted performance Trainer Chris Gizzi, a former NFL linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, Nancy incorporates SPARQ drills into her training. One of her favorite drills involves resistance training working with Chris.

“I’ll have the belt on and be strapped to Chris’ belt with a cord between us that’s flexible so he can control the resistance to
me at all times. He’ll have cones set up and off his call I have to get to those cones as fast as I can and get back, exploding against his resistance.”

All in all, it’s been a pretty good ride for the five-foot-nine competitor who grew up favoring soccer over volleyball and didn’t even play club volleyball—she played club soccer in St. Louis, MO. a half hour away, from her hometown of Belleville, IL.

Although she helped her Belleville West High team win several state championships, she was recruited to play volleyball at the Univ. of Indiana where she admits, “I had an OK college career. We didn’t have great success as a team but I had a decent career.”

That same understatement could be said for her pro experiences.

Holly McPeak puts it best, “There are few people who understand the game at the highest level. Nancy is one of them.”
Words by Brent Eads
Photos by Ben Pigao

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