Beach Bears Carry Perfect Record Into Second Home Tournament

Missouri State Tournament 2
Dates	Fri., March 1: vs. Southwest Baptist (9:00 a.m.), vs. Eastern Illinois (2:00 p.m.)  Sat., March 2: vs. Park University (8:00 a.m.), vs. Lindenwood (1:00 p.m.)
Location	Ozark, Missouri
Site	Volleyball Beach Ozark
Follow Along	Live Stats: vs. Southwest Baptist | vs. Eastern Illinois | vs. Park Univerity | vs. Lindenwood
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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State beach volleyball is set to put its perfect record on the line this weekend at its second home tournament on Friday and Saturday at the Volleyball Beach Ozark indoor courts in Ozark, Mo. Admission will be free for tournament attendees. 

The Bears will follow a similar format as last week’s tournament, playing two matches on Friday against Southwest Baptist (9:00 a.m.) and Eastern Illinois (2:00 p.m.). However, they will then play two matches the following day against Park University (8:00 a.m.) and Lindenwood (1:00 p.m.). The previously scheduled match against Oklahoma Wesleyan for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. has been canceled.

Full Tournament Schedule
Friday, March 1
9:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Southwest Baptist 
11:00 a.m.: Lindenwood vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan | Park University vs. Eastern Illinois
2:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Eastern Illinois | Oklahoma Wesleyan vs. Southwest Baptist
4:00 p.m.: Park University vs Lindenwood

Saturday, March 2
8:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Park University | Southwest Baptist vs. Eastern Illinois
10:00 a.m.: Park vs. Southwest Baptist | Eastern Illinois vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
1:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Lindenwood | Park University vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
3:00 p.m.: Southwest Baptist vs. Lindenwood

Scouting the Bears

• Missouri State is fresh off a perfect 5-0 Mo State Tournament 1 with wins against Hendrix College, UT Martin, Louisiana Monroe, Lindenwood and Oklahoma Wesleyan. The wins mark back-to-back undefeated season-opening tournaments as the Bears went 4-0 on last year’s opening weekend.

 

• The wins against UT Martin and Louisiana Monroe came by a final score of 3-2. Becca Bach and Manuela Niemeyer clinched the win on flight No. 1 against the Skyhawks. Brooke Plessner and Maddie Schrandt won the deciding match in three sets on Flight No. 5 against the Warhawks.

 

• The Bears won 44 of 53 sets in last week’s tournament. Across each flight, Missouri State is 21-3.

 

• The pairings of Olivia Muriel/Erin Eschelman on flight No. 3 and Kenzi McSpadden/Allyson Larkin on flight No. 4 were a perfect 5-0 last weekend. 

 

• This year’s roster consists of 20 players, including five true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen. The Bears feature 13 returners: Natasha Thoms, Kenzi McSpadden, Riley Drew, Claudia Wala, Trinity White, Manuela Niemeyer, MacKenzie Steele, Amanda Cleary, Becca Bach, Olivia Rattler, Addison Crider, Brooke Plessner and Olivia Muriel.

A Growing Record Book

• Multiple long-tenured Bears are either on pace to break or have already broken all-time program records in Missouri State beach volleyball’s seventh season.

 

• Brooke Plessner became Missouri State’s all-time leader in matches played over the weekend, bringing her career total to 58. She surpassed previous record-holders Grace Cook and Chloe Tome at 55. Becca Bach trails not far behind with 53 matches played.

 

• With her four wins last weekend, Plessner is now fourth in MSU history with 26 career victories, tied with Olivia Rattler for most wins by an active Bear. Grace Cook is the current record-holder with 39 career wins. 

Scouting the Field & Series History

• Missouri State holds a 2-0 record against Southwest Baptist with both wins coming at home last season. The Bears opened last season’s Mo State Tournament 2 with a 4-1 win over the SBU Bearcats. The Bearcats enter this tournament with a 1-4 season record with a win against Oklahoma Wesleyan in Ozark last week.

 

• The Bears and the Eastern Illinois Panthers will meet for the first time. The Panthers will open their third annual season on Friday after going 2-12 in 2023.

 

• MSU is 2-0 all-time against the Park University Pirates with both matches played in March 2019. The Bears beat the Pirates 5-0 in both matches, including once in the MSU Beach Invitational on March 22, 2019. Park University enters the weekend 0-2 with losses to McKendree and Nebraska.

 

• Missouri State is 2-0 against the Lindenwood Lions, including a 5-0 win last Saturday in the first Mo State Tournament. The first matchup was at last year’s first Mo State Tournament which the Bears won 4-1. Lindenwood went 2-2 at last week’s tournament.

Head Coach Ashley Emery

• Ashley Emery is in her second season as head coach of Missouri State beach volleyball. She enters the weekend with a 14-13 career record. 

 

• Emery spent the 2021 season as a volunteer assistant for the MSU indoor volleyball team after three seasons as an assistant at Drury University, where she helped the Panthers to the program’s first regular season Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and their first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in 2018. 

 

• A native of Osceola, Mo., the former Ashley Jurgensmeyer played indoor volleyball at Southwest Baptist University where she is still the all-time leader in kills (1,156), attack percentage (.303) and points (1,419).

 

• As a beach player, Emery competed on the Association of Volleyball Professionals semi-pro tour AVPNext from 2014-16 and earned an A-level ranking.

Bears in Conference USA

• On May 11, 2023, Missouri State announced that its beach volleyball team would leave CCSA after three seasons to compete in Conference USA starting in 2024. Missouri State joins TCU and Tarleton State as affiliate members of CUSA.

 

• The Bears are set to play Tarleton State on April 13 at the Beach Bear Clash hosted by Central Arkansas. Missouri State will compete in its first Conference USA Tournament in Youngsville, Louisiana from April 25 to April 27.

 

• Other teams competing in Conference USA are Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Jacksonville State, Tulane, UAB and UTEP. The Bears will also play UTEP on March 22 at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson.