SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State beach volleyball team hits the road this weekend for the Wildcat Spring Challenge hosted by the University of Arizona on Friday and Saturday.
Scouting the Bears
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MSU will compete against Arizona, Colorado Mesa, UTEP and Santa Clara at this weekend's tournament in Tuscon, Ariz.
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The freshman duo of MacKenzie Steele and Manuela Niemeyer lead the Bears in wins this season. Competing in the No. 4 spot, the pair holds an 11-1 record on the year and an 0-3 record when playing in Flight No. 3.
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Playing against ranked opponents last weekend the Bears went 0-3 falling to Texas (2-3), No. 15 FIU (1-4) and No. 9 Cal (0-5).
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MoState's three wins its last time out were courtesy of Addison Crider/Riley Drew in Flight 5 against Texas and Manuela Niemeyer/MacKenzie Steele (Flight 4) against Texas and 15th-ranked FIU.
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The Bears last attended the invitational hosted by Arizona in 2021 where they compiled a 1-3 weekend with a win over Colorado Mesa and losses to No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 13 Arizona and UC Davis.
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This weekend's outing will be the team's final regular-season tournament for the 2023 season. The Bears return home on Saturday, April 8 for their Senior Day dual against Southwest Baptist. MSU earned a 4-1 win over the Bearcats when they faced off against them on March 3 at the Bears' second home tournament.
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MSU has seen 18 different pair combinations in action this season compiling an overall record of 39-36.
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Playing in Flight No. 5, the duo of Addison Crider and Riley Drew has compiled a record of 9-4. The pair's most recent win came in a 21-11, 21-19 defeat over Texas's fifth flight.
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Out of the team's eight duals during its 2023 campaign, the team has swept three opponents, beating Hendrix, Oklahoma Wesleyan and McKendree, 5-0.
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MSU has played 180 total sets this season compiling a record of 95-85.
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MSU got off to a hot start in its 2023 campaign, going 7-1 through its opening eight duals. The Bears recorded seven-straight wins to begin the year, the most ever to begin a season in program history as well as the longest win streak in the program's tenure.
- The Bears 2023 roster consists of 19 players, with 12 freshmen making up the bulk of the team. MSU's team also features seven returners including Madalyn Bass, Becca Bach, Olivia Rattler, Addison Crider, Grayson Hall, Brooke Plessner and Tylar Garrett.
Leader of the Beach Bears
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Ashley Emery was announced as the Bears new head coach on July 15, 2022.
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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.
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A native of Osceola, Mo., the former Ashley Jurgensmeyer played collegiately at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., graduating in three years but still leaving as the program's all-time leader in kills, attack percentage, and points.
- 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 the CCSA
Missouri State officially joined the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association on Dec. 13, 2019. The Bears will vie for a title in the six-team league (TCU, Florida State, LSU, Grand Canyon, South Carolina, Missouri State) at the CCSA Tournament on April 26-29.
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