Mashkova will be playing in her third FIVB World Championships after qualifying via the Asian Continental Cup process with “newcomer” Samalikova. Mashkova and Irina Tsimbalova placed 17th and ninth in the last two worlds. Mashkova started playing in FIVB-sanctioned events in 2003 with her first World Tour appearance in 2004. Her best FIVB World Tour placements were fifth in 2012 (Thailand) and 2013 (China) with Tsimbalova. Mashkova and Tsimbalova also competed in the 2012 FIVB Continental Cup Finals in Moscow. Samalikova have been competing in FIVB events since 2007 and has only appeared once in a World Tour Main Draw in 2014 with Alexandra Varassova in Anapa, Russia, where the pair placed 25th.