Beach Bears End Regular Season With McKendree, Oklahoma Wesleyan

Missouri State vs. McKendree | Missouri State vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
Date & Times (CT)	Thursday, April 18: vs. McKendree (10:00 a.m.) | vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan (3:00 p.m.)
Location	Springfield, Missouri
Site	Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts
Follow Along	Live Stats: vs. McKendree | vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
Missouri State	Instagram | Twitter/X | Facebook | Beach Volleyball Home Page

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State beach volleyball (22-5) is set to end its regular season with a perfect home record on the line as it welcomes McKendree and Oklahoma Wesleyan to Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts on Thursday, April 18. Admission will be free.

The Bears will start the day against the McKendree Bearcats at 10:00 a.m. and end with its regular season finale against the Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles at 3:00 p.m. McKendree and Oklahoma Wesleyan will play at 1:00 p.m.

Full Match Schedule (Central Time)
Thursday, April 18
10:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. McKendree (Live Stats)
1:00 p.m.: McKendree vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
3:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan (Live Stats)

Scouting the Bears

• The Missouri State Bears will play their second and third matches of the week following a 5-0 sweep over Park University (Mo.) on Tuesday. The win improved MSU’s record to 22-5 and marked the team’s 13th sweep of the season. 

 

• The 22 wins are the most by the Bears in a single season, surpassing the 13 it had in 2019. The 13 sweeps this season are also a program record.

 

• Across all flights, Missouri State is 99-34 (.744). The Bears have won 210 out of 301 sets played (.698).

 

• Missouri State made a change at flight No. 3 on Tuesday for the first time this season, pairing Kenzi McSpadden with Olivia Muriel. Erin Eschleman had played with Muriel at No. 3 all season.

 

• The Bears have used 11 different pair/flight combinations this season. Flight No. 2 is the only one that has been consistent all season, with MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary having played all 27 matches together at the No. 2 position.

 

• MSU is on a program-best 13-match home winning streak going back to last season’s Senior Day against Southwest Baptist. The last Missouri State home loss came on March 4, 2023 against Eastern Kentucky at Volleyball Beach Ozark. The Bears have not lost at Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts since March 26, 2021 against Central Arkansas. 

 

• Since 2022, Missouri State is 24-1 at home. 

A Growing Record Book

• Multiple Bears are either on pace or have surpassed single-season and career records in Missouri State beach volleyball’s seventh season.

 

• Brooke Plessner continues to grow her Missouri State record win total as she enters tomorrow’s matches with 44. She and Maddie Schrandt are 23-4 as a pair (23-3 at flight No. 5). The 23 wins are tied for the most by a pair in a single season, matching Grace Cook and Chloe Tome reaching 23 wins in 2022. 

 

• Other current Bears climbing the all-time wins list include junior Olivia Rattler (38 wins, tied for third), junior Becca Bach (33 wins, fifth), sophomore MacKenzie Steele (30 wins, sixth), senior Olivia Muriel (29 wins, tied for seventh), Manuela Niemeyer (27 wins, ninth) and Maddie Schradnt (23 wins, tied for 10th).

 

• Plessner is also the program leader in all-time matches played (77), followed by Bach (76) and Rattler (63).

Scouting the Sands & Series History

• The Bears are looking for their second undefeated home record in the last three seasons. MSU is 9-0 at Volleyball Beach Ozark and 3-0 at Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts this season.

 

• Missouri State is 1-0 all-time against McKendree. The Bears swept the Bearcats, 5-0, in last year’s Mo State Tournament 2 at Volleyball Beach Ozark last year by winning every set. McKendree is 4-16 this season and most recently snapped an eight-match losing streak with a win against Emmanuel University on April 14 at the AVCA Division II Beach Championships in Tavares, Florida.

 

• MSU is 2-0 all-time against Oklahoma Wesleyan with both wins coming at Volleyball Beach Ozark over the past two seasons. The Bears swept the Eagles to end the Mo State Tournament 1 in 2023 and 2024. Missouri State won every set in this year’s matchup on Feb. 24, limiting McKendree to reaching 10 points in just three sets.

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 31-18 career beach volleyball head coaching 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. 

 

• She served as the interim volleyball head coach at Missouri S&T for the 2017 season following five years as a high school coach in Oklahoma where she led the Broken Arrow varsity team to three state tournament appearances from 2014 to 2016. 

 

• Emery guided Edison Prep in Tulsa to the school’s first-ever state tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013. She was named the Green County Coach of the Year in 2013.

 

• A native of Osceola, Missouri, 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 the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after three seasons to compete in Conference USA starting in 2024. Missouri State joins TCU and Tarleton State as new affiliate members of CUSA this season.