Season Opening Storylines
1) Missouri State will play its season opener at home for the first time since 2007, and has alternated wins and losses to open the last eight seasons, with a loss at Charleston last year.
2) The Bears are picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference this year, with three players on the roster -
Aubrey Cheffey,
Amelia Flynn, and
Chloe Rear - who have earned postseason all-MVC honors in their careers.
3) For the first time since 1996, Missouri State will have a new coach to begin the season. Manolo Concepción will serve as interim head coach for the 2019 season after Melissa Stokes resigned after 23 years in August.
4) This is the first Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational without its namesake. Dr. Wynn, who was the backbone of one of the most progressive and successful women's athletics programs in the country at Missouri State and a national pioneer for the cause of women's sports, passed away in January at the age of 87.
The Opponents
Jacksonville is picked seventh in the nine-team Atlantic Sun Conference after finishing 5-24 last season. The Dolphins have a young roster with seven freshmen and only four upperclassmen. Former Bear Kayla (Walton) Muys is a JU assistant coach and married to head coach Evan Muys. She was a first-team all-MVC selection in 2013, her one season at MSU.
   DePaul returns the bulk of its 2018 roster and is picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST this season. The Blue Demons went 5-24 last year, and senior right side Brittany Maxwell is a preseason all-conference pick.
   Southeast Missouri State is predicted to finish in the top half of the Ohio Valley Conference this year, led by senior outside hitter and preseason all-OVC selection Annie Wehrheim. The Redhawks went 16-14 last year and 8-8 in league play.
Series Histories
Missouri State has never played Jacksonville or DePaul in volleyball.
   The Bears are 17-2 all-time against Southeast Missouri State. MSU has won eight in a row in the series, most recently a 3-0 home victory in 2013.
