SPRINGFIELD -- Missouri State will play more than half of its 2018 beach volleyball schedule next week when the Bears head to southern California for 11 matches over a six-day stretch. 

Spring Break Schedule
Mon., March 12, 1:30 p.m. at No. 7 Long Beach State
Mon., March 12, 3 p.m. vs. Colorado Mesa (in Long Beach)
Tue., March 13, 12 p.m. vs. Cal State Los Angeles (in Huntingon Beach)
Tue., March 13, 4 p.m. vs. Vanguard (in Huntingon Beach)
Wed., March 14, 3 p.m. vs. Colorado Mesa (in Northridge)
Wed., March 14, 5 p.m. at Cal State Northridge
Fri., March 16, 2 p.m. vs. Cal State Bakersfield (in Irvine)
Fri., March 16, 4 p.m. at Irvine Valley College
Sat., March 17, 1 p.m. vs. No. 4 UCLA (in Santa Monica)
Sat., March 17, 3 p.m. at No. 17 Loyola Marymount
Sat., March 17, 4 p.m. vs. Colorado Mesa (in Santa Monica)

Scouting the Bears
Missouri State is 0-1 on the season with a 4-1 loss at Nebraska on March 2 in the first ever match for the program. MSU's No. 4 pair of Sam Brinkmann and Mikaela Mosquera picked up a win for the Bears, and two other duos went the full three sets against a Nebraska roster that included nine of 10 players from the Cornhuskers' 2017 indoor national championship squad.
     Though the Bears are rookies in the sand, several Missouri State players have enjoyed award-winning careers indoors, including 2017 first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selections Lynsey Wright and Aubrey Cheffey, as well as 2016 all-ACC selection Taylor Fricano, who set North Carolina's single-season block assists record that season and transferred to MSU in January 2018. 

About Beach Volleyball
There are more than 60 NCAA varsity beach volleyball programs across the nation, with several schools slated to add the sport in the near future. 
     A match is two sets to 21 points with a 15-point third set if needed, and all sets are rally scoring. Each school divides its roster into five teams of two players each (10 total players will compete for each school in a match), and the winner is the school that captures three of the five matches between the two-player teams. 

Up Next
Missouri State plays the first home match in school history on Thursday, March 22, at 3 p.m. against Ottawa University at the Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts.