96.9 The Jock ESPN Radio Springfield Missouri
YOUNGSVILLE, La. – Missouri State beach volleyball (26-6) survived and advanced to the second day of the CUSA Tournament thanks to two wins in the contender’s bracket Thursday afternoon. The Bears lost their opening match in the winner’s bracket against No. 14-ranked Florida International, but earned two wins against Jacksonville State and UTEP to keep their season alive.
“I’m just so proud of these girls and what they’ve accomplished this season, especially today,” head coach Ashley Emery said. “I’ll quote Olivia Muriel,’ What a unique opportunity we have in front of us.'”
The Bears move on to the second day of the tournament where they will compete in the third round of the contender’s bracket at 1:00 p.m. against the loser of tomorrow morning’s winner’s bracket matchup between No. 1-seed TCU and No. 5-seed Tulane. All matches tomorrow and Saturday will be on ESPN+.
(7) Missouri State 0 – (2) No. 14 Florida International 3
The Bears opened the tournament against the No. 2-seed Florida International Panthers, who entered the tournament as the No. 14-ranked team in the nation. Led by former Missouri State beach volleyball head coach Terri Del Conte, the Panthers defeated the Bears, 3-0, to advance to the winner’s bracket while the Bears were sent to the contender’s bracket.
FlU won its first match at flight No. 1 as its lead duo of Giada Bianchi and Reka Orsi Toth led early in both sets to win, 21-8, 21-9.
The Panthers quickly extended their lead after flight No. 3 against Olivia Muriel and Erin Eschleman. FIU’s Zuzanna Bielak and Lucie Pokorna hit the ground running in the first set, but Muriel and Eschleman battled back in a competitive second set. The two sides were tied at seven early on, but FIU pulled away to take the sweep, 21-9, 21-14.
FIU’s Lisa Luini and Alice Pratesi clinched the match with a tight victory at flight No. 2. MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary battled all match long with both sets ending in the same results. The Panthers took the win in identical 21-18, 21-18 sets to reach the three wins necessary to seal the win.
The other two flights went unfinished as FIU’s Kendra Brown and Lauren Huggins won the first set against Allyson Larkin and Olivia Rattler, 21-6, but the full match concluded before the end of the second set.
At flight No. 5, Brooke Plessner and Maddie Schrandt managed to take a set from the FIU duo of Zoe Cahill and Hania Taduran. The Bears won the first set, 21-19, but the Panthers evened the fight with a 21-18 win in the second set where the match ended.
Missouri State 3 – Jacksonville State 0
With their backs against the wall, the Bears staved off elimination in the first round of the contender’s bracket with a 3-0 sweep against the No. 9-seed Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Missouri State earned sweeps at all five flights with the wins at flight Nos. 1 and 4 coming as soon as the match was officially clinched.
Plessner and Schrandt had the honor of being the first Bears to win a match in a CUSA Tournament with a sweeping victory at No. 5 against Kiara Amigon and Morgan McClure, 21-14, 21-6. The duo extended their record number of wins by a Bears pair in a season with 26.
At flight No. 3, Muriel and Eschleman responded after a tough battle against FIU with a good showing against Luci Wilkinson and Kaylee Moseley. The Bears used strong runs at the end of each set to win, 21-11, 21-15.
The Bears clinched the match officially at flight No. 2 thanks to Steele and Cleary holding on against Carley Lynch and Hana Aiana. Missouri State ended the first set on a 7-1 run and had to fight off a Gamecock 5-2 run in the second set, but ultimately took home the sweep, 21-8, 21-17.
The final two flights ended almost simultaneously after Missouri State clinched the match with a 3-0 victory. Bach and Niemeyer needed a quick finish in the second set against Stavroula Papazoglou and Brooklyn Schiffli to finish their match. A competitive first set transformed into an 11-3 run in the second set to give MSU the win, 21-14, 21-6.
At the same time, Larkin and Rattler managed to get their match done at No. 4 against Kathryn Smith and Ellie Garrett. The Bears opened the first set with a 7-0 run and did nearly the same in the second set with a 6-1 opening run. A late second-set run by Jacksonville State proved to be short-lived as the Bears completed the sweep, 21-10, 21-15, to keep their tournament run alive.
“What a great day to be a Bear,” Muriel said. “A relentless group of girls I played with today; we weren’t taking anything other than a win and it showed. Pressure was applied and the Beach Bears rose. I’m so proud of my team.”
(7) Missouri State 3 – (6) UTEP 2
The Bears prevailed in an elimination match at the end of the night against the No. 6-seed UTEP Miners, 3-2, in a match that went down to the wire. Missouri State played UTEP as its only conference opponent during the regular season which the Miners won, 4-1, at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson back on March 22.
Once again, Plessner and Schrandt were the first to get the job done in what proved to be Missouri State’s most dominant victory of the match at flight No. 5 against Alexis Massey and Adriana Oporto. In a direct rematch at No. 5 from March, Plessner and Schrandt came away with the same result with a 21-9, 21-12 sweep. Massey and Oporto scored three more points against the Bears this time around.
The Miners evened the score at flight No. 1. In another direct rematch with Bach and Niemeyer facing Paulina Acuna and Krista Paegle. Just like at No. 5, the result from March carried over with UTEP winning, 21-18, 21-12. Bach and Niemeyer also scored three more points in this match compared to last month.
UTEP took the lead with a win at No. 2 in the rematch between the MSU duo of Steele and Cleary and the pair of Madison Hill and Summer McDonough. The Bears put a lot more pressure on the Miners this time around as Steele and Cleary scored 35 points compared to getting 26 last month. However, it also amounted to a repeat result with UTEP winning, 21-19, 21-16.
Needing to win out to stay alive, Muriel and Eschleman had to be the first to flip a result in a flight No. 3 rematch against Katie Martin and Marian Ovalle. After losing to the Miners in three sets in Tucson, Muriel and Eschleman were clutch in two highly contested sets this time. The Bears needed an extra point in the second set to take the win, 21-19, 22-20.
The match at flight No. 4 would decide the match, and it was the only one that wasn’t a direct rematch from earlier in the year. UTEP trotted out Milana Popovic and Ema Uskokovic at No. 4 again while Missouri State had Rattler alongside Larkin this time as opposed to Kenzi McSpadden. The different look for the Bears could have proved the difference-maker as the two sides battled in two extended sets. Missouri State held on to win and eliminate UTEP, 22-20, 22-20, to send the Bears to the third round of the contender’s bracket.
“Having to stay and play three matches throughout 12 hours in one day is challenging,” Plessner said. “Our team knew we needed to win against UTEP to stay alive. Not only did we get redemption, but we also had confidence while doing it. The Beach Bears are ready to take on tomorrow’s games as strong as we ended today’s match.”
Results
(7) Missouri State 0 – (2) No. 14 Florida International 3
Flight 1: Giada Bianchi/Reka Orsi Toth (FIU) def. Becca Bach/Manuela Niemeyer (MSU): 21-8, 21-9
Flight 2: Lisa Luini/Alice Pratesi (FIU) def. MacKenzie Steele/Amanda Cleary (MSU): MSU: 21-18, 21-18
Flight 3: Zuzanna Bielak/Lucie Pokorna (FIU) def. Olivia Muriel/Erin Eschleman (MSU): 21-9, 21-14
Flight 4: Kendra Brown/Lauren Huggins (FIU) vs. Allyson Larkin/Olivia Rattler (MSU): 21-16, Unfinished
Flight 5: Zoe Cahill/Hania Taduran (FIU) vs. Brooke Plessner/Maddie Schrandt (MSU): 19-21, 21-18, Unfinished
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
(7) Missouri State 3 – (9) Jacksonville State 0
Flight 1: Becca Bach/Manuela Niemeyer (MSU) def. Stavroula Papazoglou/Brooklyn Schiffli (JSU): 21-14, 21-6
Flight 2: MacKenzie Steele/Amanda Cleary (MSU) def. Carley Lynch/Hana Aiana (JSU): 21-8, 21-17
Flight 3: Olivia Muriel/Erin Eschleman (MSU) def. Luci Wilkinson/Kaylee Moseley (JSU): 21-11, 21-15
Flight 4: Olivia Rattler/Allyson Larkin (MSU) def. Kathryn Smith/Ellie Garrett (JSU): 21-10, 21-15
Flight 5: Brooke Plessner and Maddie Schrandt (MSU) def. Kiara Amigon/Morgan McClure (JSU): 21-14, 21-6
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 2, 1, 4
(7) Missouri State 3 – (6) UTEP 2
Flight 1: Paulina Acuna/Krista Paegle (UTEP) def. Becca Bach/Manuela Niemeyer (MSU): 21-18, 21-12
Flight 2: Madison Hill/Summer McDonough (UTEP) def. MacKenzie Steele/Amanda Cleary (MSU): 21-19, 21-16
Flight 3: Olivia Muriel/Erin Eschleman (MSU) def. Katie Martin/Marian Ovalle (UTEP): 21-19, 21-20
Flight 4: Olivia Rattler/Allyson Larkin (MSU) def. Milana Popovic/Ema Uskokovic (UTEP): 22-20, 22-20
Flight 5: Brooke Plessner/Maddie Schrandt (MSU) def. Alexis Massey/Adriana Oporto (UTEP): 21-9, 21-12
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 2, 3, 4
