10th Season
The Women's Professional Volleyball Association concluded its 10th season of operation with Holly McPeak setting a single-season earnings record ($88,025) and the Olympic tandem of Barbra Fontana/Linda Hanley finishing as the No. 1 ranked team. The '96 Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour opened with two indoor events (Evian Indoor Pro Beach Volleyball Championships on February 3 in Fairfax, Virginia and February 24 in New York City) followed by outdoor stops in Deerfield Beach, FL, Puerto Rico, Hermosa Beach, CA, San Diego, CA, Austin, TX, Ocean City, MD, Newport, RI, Chicago, IL, Long Beach, CA, New York City, Huntington Beach, CA, Portland, OR, and Kaua'i, HI. The indoor events were the earliest start ever for the WPVA (the previous earliest start was April 6 & 7, 1992 in Austin, TX). Karolyn Kirby and Christine Schaefer won the inaugural indoor event in Fairfax. Olympians Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno captured the New York indoor title as well as the Deerfield, Austin and Chicago outdoor stops.

Players
Lisa Arce won her first Evian Tour titles with Holly McPeak in Puerto Rico, Central Park in New York, Huntington Beach and Kauai. Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley won their first Evian Tour events together at the Hermosa Beach, Ocean City, Newport and Portland stops. Kirby and Reno captured the San Diego crown while Kirby and Angela Rock won their 18th Evian Tour title together by capturing the Long Beach event.

ABC Sports
Network television coverage continued to grow for the Evian Tour in 1996 with ABC Sports covering five events, including same-day coverage of four events. ABC Sports provided same-day coverage of events in Deerfield Beach, Hermosa Beach, New York and Huntington Beach. The Evian U. S. Open in Ocean City was taped for replay June 23.

Decade of digs
Led by Karolyn Kirby, six players competed on the Evian Tour for the 10th straight season. The other 10 season veterans are Jackie Campbell, Gail Castro, Janice Harrer, Elaine Roque and Gayle Stammer.

"SILVER BULLET" Aces
Angela Rock won her second-straight "Silver Bullet" ace award with a record 102 untouched service winners. The Coors Light brand at the Coors Brewing Company increased the 1996 '"Silver Bullet" ace pool to $10,000. Rock received 60 percent of the pool ($6,000) with Lisa Arce finishing second (73 aces for $3,000) and Holly McPeak third (71 aces for $1,000). Rock captured the 1995 "Silver Bullet" ace award to win $2,160. Rock also captured the 1992 "Silver Bullet" ace title with 101 aces

$4,685,300
After 10 seasons, the all-time total prize money is now $4,685,300 for the Evian tour. The first WPVA event had a total purse of $500 with the winners sharing $300. The Evian Tour had its first two $100,000 events: the Evian U.S. Open at Ocean City (June 14-16) and the Evian National Championships at Huntington Beach (Aug. 16-18). These events were two of the four "Grand Slam" evens on the 1996 schedule. The other two "Grand Slam" events had $75,000 purses: the Evian Invitational in New York (Aug. 8-11) and the Best of the Beach III in Hawaii (Sept.13-15).

Hot
Former high school, college and beach mates Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak finished the 1996 season as the hottest team on the Evian Tour after winning the New York, Huntington Beach and Hawaii events. In seven tour stops together, this pair has won four events while posting a 36-4 record. Arce and McPeak grew up in Manhattan Beach, CA, and attended Mira Costa High School and Cal-Berkley together. McPeak, who finished her college career at UCLA, was selected as the Evian Tour's MVP and Top Defender for the second straight year. Arce, the Evian Tour's Top Rookie in 1994 and Most Improved Player in 1995, finished fifth in earnings ($60,125).

Mira Costa Mustangs
The Evian Hermosa Beach open was a homecoming for five players on the 1996 Evian Tour. Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and the South Bay Volleyball Club has started the volleyball career for several Evian Tour regulars, including Lisa Arce (1994 rookie of the year and 1995 most improved player), Wendy Fletcher (1993 most improved), Barbra Fontana (top defender in 1993 and 1994), Holly McPeak (1991 rookie of the year and 1995 most valuable player and top defender) and Karrie Poppinga. The five players have combined to win 26 Evian Tour titles (101 final four finishes) and $507,256.30 (11% percent of the total earnings since the start of the tour in 1987).

World Championships
Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak captured their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship-Series event Aug. 23-25 in Pusan, Korea. Arce and McPeak defeated Yukiko Ishizaka\Yukiko Takahashi of Japan 12-10 and 12-2 to win the title. Liz Masakayan and Angela Rock finished fourth by losing the bronze medal match 15-12 to Olympic silver medalists Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel of Brazil.

58 Event Victories
Kirby is the Evian Tour's all-time money winner ($418,424) with 58 victories and holds a record 64 pro beach career titles with $509,924 in earnings. Kirby won the 1993 and 1994 FIVB World Championships with Reno and Mazakayan respectively.