Florida State University Athletics
Myriah Massey: From Silver to Gold
10/17/2024 4:03:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – There would be no second place for Myriah Massey. Not this time. Not after so many so-close-you-can-taste-it finishes. Thrice she had taken runner-up in the p1440 National Championships. In 2022, she settled for silver at the U-19 World Championships alongside Ashley Pater.
That silver at the World Champs was the only one that didn't sting. Massey, a freshman at Florida State, declared it a moral victory in and of itself from the simple fact that Pater had asked her to play at all. Pater, now a sophomore at USC, had been who Massey watched throughout her juniors career. Everywhere she went, there was Pater, always a few age groups higher, always making the finals. Now she was asking her, a 16-year-old, to play in a U-19 World Championships, in Dikili, Turkiye, as her teammate?
"I don't know why Ashley asked me to play with her. Her and Jordan [Boulware, now Massey's teammate as a redshirt freshman at Florida State], were who I looked up to when I was a junior," Massey said. "They were just so clean and so good. When she asked me, it was just 'Oh my gosh.' It was crazy. I didn't expect us to do good at all."
Massey's mother even booked an early flight home from the qualifier, anticipating they wouldn't make the finals. Soon enough, mom had a flight to change – and also had a new one to book, this one bound for Turkiye, as Massey and Pater clinched their spot in the World Championships as the No. 2 seed.
The fact that she was competing in the World Champs was surprising enough for Massey, a surprise that only compounded when her and Pater continued winning, six straight matches with only a single set dropped, earning a spot in the finals, against Ukraine's Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk. When Massey and Pater alas fell, 17-21, 18-21, the familiar sting of second place was amiss, replaced instead by the overwhelming sensation of a World Championship silver medal being placed around her neck.
"I normally take losses hard, but I got a medal! That was so cool," Massey said. "My parents were there, and it was such a fun moment, they make it such a big deal. I'd never been in that kind of a situation."
And, to those who had watched her as a kid, it could be described as something as a shock that she was there at all. When Massey was a 9-year-old, so weak was she that her teammates would groan when it was Massey's turn to serve. They knew she wouldn't get it over the net. Grandma did, too. Even bribed her granddaughter with $20 for every serve she hit in bounds.
Had grandma kept up the incentive, she'd have a perilously low bank account.
Less than a decade later, in Shangluo, China, for the 2024 World Championships, Massey wasn't just attempting to get serves over the net. She was attempting to win a World Championship, determined to stand atop the podium, and not a foot down from the winners, as she had two years prior. And the emcee for the event let everyone know it.
"It was a little added incentive [to win gold] but also added pressure," Massey said. "Every time they announced me, they'd say 'She won silver two years ago!' I know that people would play their best against us, especially USA – everybody wants to beat the USA. I had to do better this time."
She did. Massey and Davis emerged from the qualifier and twice bounced back from an opening-set loss in the playoff rounds, coming back to beat Belgium's Ines Piret and Annelore Bex, 18-21, 21-18, 15-9, then doing it again against fellow Americans and second-seeded Sarah Wood and Sally Perez, 12-21, 21-19, 15-5.
Now Massey was back in a most familiar position, the finals, seeking a most unfamiliar result: a gold medal on the world's biggest stage.
"A lot of my juniors career, I got silver a lot. I said 'I am not getting silver again. Can't do it,'" Massey recalled of the mindset during that gold medal match. "I love when we get into that mentality of 'You're not losing, you're going to win.' You play so much different and you have so much adrenaline, it's so fun."
There would be no comeback required this time. Massey and Davis swept Spain's Sofia Izuzquiza and Marta Carro, 21-16, 21-16, to win gold, the first American victory at an age group World Championship since Morgan Martin and Kathryn Plummer won in Acapulco, Mexico in 2014.
"Pretty remarkable that an African American kid, from a landlocked state in the Midwest, could navigate a path to being one of the best 19-year-old beach players in the world," Rob Long, her club coach in Ohio, said. "The best part is that none of this has changed Rye in any way. She is still the same humble, coachable kid that is full of Christian faith and belief that she can move mountains."
Indeed, it is notable, to say the least, that a teenager from, of all places, Pickerington, Ohio – and not the traditional talent hotbeds of Southern California, Florida, or Hawaii – was the one standing atop the podium. But carving a unique path is nothing particularly new for Massey. While Ohio is not exactly synonymous with beach volleyball success, with 30,000 juniors registered with USA Volleyball, it is the largest region in the entire United States for indoor volleyball.
When Massey and her childhood friend, Kay Schmiel, took a particular interest in beach, they were deviating from the well-worn path of indoor. And they deviated in an especially bold way when they traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for a juniors tournament and, perhaps accidentally, perhaps not, registered for the 14U division.
"We got crushed," Massey recalled with a laugh. "But my mom saw people with Ohio Valley on their shirts and said 'Wait, we live there!' So, we went and never left."
They found Long and put a decidedly unique emphasis on beach volleyball, picking it up as soon as indoor season ended, continuing all the way through the start of the following indoor season.
"From the beginning, a clearly exceptional athlete choosing beach volleyball as her love and not the indoor path was a huge decision for her," Long said. "That type of confidence to choose her own path and write her own story really started then and defines her determination and inner confidence that has pushed her ever since."
At the end of the year, she was a 12U National Champion. Four years after that, she was a World Championship silver medalist. Six years after dedicating herself to the sport of beach volleyball, Myriah Massey was a World Champ, the first American in a decade to claim that honor.
"I see Olympic level opportunities in her future," Long said. "Sounds crazy to some but, she has already done some crazy things."
That silver at the World Champs was the only one that didn't sting. Massey, a freshman at Florida State, declared it a moral victory in and of itself from the simple fact that Pater had asked her to play at all. Pater, now a sophomore at USC, had been who Massey watched throughout her juniors career. Everywhere she went, there was Pater, always a few age groups higher, always making the finals. Now she was asking her, a 16-year-old, to play in a U-19 World Championships, in Dikili, Turkiye, as her teammate?
"I don't know why Ashley asked me to play with her. Her and Jordan [Boulware, now Massey's teammate as a redshirt freshman at Florida State], were who I looked up to when I was a junior," Massey said. "They were just so clean and so good. When she asked me, it was just 'Oh my gosh.' It was crazy. I didn't expect us to do good at all."
Massey's mother even booked an early flight home from the qualifier, anticipating they wouldn't make the finals. Soon enough, mom had a flight to change – and also had a new one to book, this one bound for Turkiye, as Massey and Pater clinched their spot in the World Championships as the No. 2 seed.
The fact that she was competing in the World Champs was surprising enough for Massey, a surprise that only compounded when her and Pater continued winning, six straight matches with only a single set dropped, earning a spot in the finals, against Ukraine's Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk. When Massey and Pater alas fell, 17-21, 18-21, the familiar sting of second place was amiss, replaced instead by the overwhelming sensation of a World Championship silver medal being placed around her neck.
"I normally take losses hard, but I got a medal! That was so cool," Massey said. "My parents were there, and it was such a fun moment, they make it such a big deal. I'd never been in that kind of a situation."
And, to those who had watched her as a kid, it could be described as something as a shock that she was there at all. When Massey was a 9-year-old, so weak was she that her teammates would groan when it was Massey's turn to serve. They knew she wouldn't get it over the net. Grandma did, too. Even bribed her granddaughter with $20 for every serve she hit in bounds.
Had grandma kept up the incentive, she'd have a perilously low bank account.
Less than a decade later, in Shangluo, China, for the 2024 World Championships, Massey wasn't just attempting to get serves over the net. She was attempting to win a World Championship, determined to stand atop the podium, and not a foot down from the winners, as she had two years prior. And the emcee for the event let everyone know it.
"It was a little added incentive [to win gold] but also added pressure," Massey said. "Every time they announced me, they'd say 'She won silver two years ago!' I know that people would play their best against us, especially USA – everybody wants to beat the USA. I had to do better this time."
She did. Massey and Davis emerged from the qualifier and twice bounced back from an opening-set loss in the playoff rounds, coming back to beat Belgium's Ines Piret and Annelore Bex, 18-21, 21-18, 15-9, then doing it again against fellow Americans and second-seeded Sarah Wood and Sally Perez, 12-21, 21-19, 15-5.
Now Massey was back in a most familiar position, the finals, seeking a most unfamiliar result: a gold medal on the world's biggest stage.
"A lot of my juniors career, I got silver a lot. I said 'I am not getting silver again. Can't do it,'" Massey recalled of the mindset during that gold medal match. "I love when we get into that mentality of 'You're not losing, you're going to win.' You play so much different and you have so much adrenaline, it's so fun."
"Pretty remarkable that an African American kid, from a landlocked state in the Midwest, could navigate a path to being one of the best 19-year-old beach players in the world," Rob Long, her club coach in Ohio, said. "The best part is that none of this has changed Rye in any way. She is still the same humble, coachable kid that is full of Christian faith and belief that she can move mountains."
Indeed, it is notable, to say the least, that a teenager from, of all places, Pickerington, Ohio – and not the traditional talent hotbeds of Southern California, Florida, or Hawaii – was the one standing atop the podium. But carving a unique path is nothing particularly new for Massey. While Ohio is not exactly synonymous with beach volleyball success, with 30,000 juniors registered with USA Volleyball, it is the largest region in the entire United States for indoor volleyball.
When Massey and her childhood friend, Kay Schmiel, took a particular interest in beach, they were deviating from the well-worn path of indoor. And they deviated in an especially bold way when they traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for a juniors tournament and, perhaps accidentally, perhaps not, registered for the 14U division.
"We got crushed," Massey recalled with a laugh. "But my mom saw people with Ohio Valley on their shirts and said 'Wait, we live there!' So, we went and never left."
They found Long and put a decidedly unique emphasis on beach volleyball, picking it up as soon as indoor season ended, continuing all the way through the start of the following indoor season.
"From the beginning, a clearly exceptional athlete choosing beach volleyball as her love and not the indoor path was a huge decision for her," Long said. "That type of confidence to choose her own path and write her own story really started then and defines her determination and inner confidence that has pushed her ever since."
At the end of the year, she was a 12U National Champion. Four years after that, she was a World Championship silver medalist. Six years after dedicating herself to the sport of beach volleyball, Myriah Massey was a World Champ, the first American in a decade to claim that honor.
"I see Olympic level opportunities in her future," Long said. "Sounds crazy to some but, she has already done some crazy things."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Beach Volleyball
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