Storylines for the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational
1) Missouri State (2-0) begins the spring portion of the season this weekend by hosting the annual Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center. The Bears take on Oral Roberts at 5 p.m. Friday, South Dakota at 3 p.m. Saturday and former Missouri Valley Conference rival Wichita State at 2 p.m. Sunday. WSU will also play matches against ORU and USD preceding the Missouri State contests on Friday and Saturday.
   Seating capacity will be 1,250 this season with free admission to all home matches, and all university and city COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed. Masks will be required inside HSC.
2) MSU was one of 63 Division I teams to play volleyball in the fall and the only MVC school to do so, going 2-0 with a road sweep of Little Rock and 3-1 home victory against Central Arkansas. The Bears ended the fall as one of six unbeaten teams, with just four of those going 2-0 or better.
   Additionally, Missouri State enters the spring as the national leader in ace average at 2.43 per set, while sophomore
Brooklyn Cink ranks No. 1 in aces (1.00/set) and points (6.21/set) and second in kill average (5.00/set).
3) The Bears have a new head coach on the sideline this season after
Steven McRoberts was hired on Jan. 30, 2020. McRoberts is in his 24th season as a collegiate head coach and 16th at the Division I level, and owns a 589-245 (.706) overall record with 21 winning seasons and 19 years with 20 or more victories. He began the 2020-21 season ranked 20th among active Division I coaches in total victories and 24th in winning percentage.
   He is already the first Missouri State coach to start 2-0 for the Bears.
4) More than half of Missouri State's 16-player roster this year had not suited up for the Bears in competition prior to the fall. The roster features two seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and six freshmen.
5) Missouri State has won 79 percent of its matches at Hammons Student Center since the year 2000 and posted a winning home record in 21 consecutive seasons.
The Opponents
Oral Roberts has a first-year coach in Frank Craig III and roster that is roughly split down the middle between returning letterwinners and newcomers. The Golden Eagles went 8-23 overall and 4-12 in Summit League play in 2019, and are picked to finish seventh in that league this year.
   South Dakota is coming off a record-setting season in which it went 31-3 and earned a runner-up finish in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Coyotes also posted a perfect 16-0 Summit League record for the 2019 regular season title and are project to repeat as champions.
   Wichita State went 9-19 in 2019 and 6-10 in American Athletic Conference play, and are picked to finish fourth in the West Division this season. The Shockers return the majority of their starting lineup and have qualified for 11 NCAA Tournaments in head coach Chris Lamb's 20 seasons.
Series Histories
Missouri State is 29-10 against Oral Roberts, including a 4-0 mark in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational. The Golden Eagles won the last meeting by a 17-15 margin in the fifth set in Tulsa in 2019.
   The Bears lead Wichita State by a 46-31 margin, and this will be the first meeting since the Shockers departed the MVC after the 2016 season.
   MSU and South Dakota have never met in volleyball.
Fall Recap
MSU was one of 63 Division I teams to play volleyball in the fall and the only MVC school to do so, going 2-0 with a road sweep of Little Rock and 3-1 home victory against Central Arkansas. The Bears ended the fall as one of six unbeaten teams, with just four of those going 2-0 or better.
   Against Little Rock,
Brooklyn Cink piled up 20 kills and three aces, and the defense held the Trojans to a .158 attack efficiency in the sweep.
   Missouri State got 16 kills from
Amelia Flynn and 15 more from Cink while serving 12 aces as a team in the Oct. 3 home victory against UCA.
   Cink and Flynn each collected MVC Performer of the Week honors during the fall, while Cink finished as the national leader in aces (1.00/set) and points (6.21/set) and second in kill average (5.00/set). The Bears also served 17 aces in seven sets to lead the country with a 2.43 average.
