SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State beach volleyball team returns home this weekend to host Southwest Baptist on the team's Senior Day at 1 p.m.
 

Missouri State vs. SBU (Springfield, Mo.)
Date & Event Times	Saturday, April 8, 2023 | 1 p.m.
Location	Springfield, Mo.
Site	Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts
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Scouting the Bears 

• MSU will host SBU for the team's Senior Day. MSU earned a 4-1 win over the Bearcats when they faced off against them on March 3 at the Bears' second home tournament. 

• Saturday's Senior Day celebration will honor Grayson Hall and Tylar Garrett.  

• Saturday's match against SBU will be played at the Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts.  

• 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 12-2 record on the year and an 0-5 record when playing in Flight No. 3. 

• Playing in a tournament hosted by the University of Arizona last weekend the Bears went 0-4 falling to Colorado Mesa (1-4), Arizona (0-5), UTEP (2-3) and Santa Clara (1-4). 

• MoState's four wins its last time out were courtesy of Addison Crider/Riley Drew in Flight 5 against Colorado Mesa, Manuela Niemeyer/MacKenzie Steele (Flight 4) and Olivia Rattler/Brooke Plessner (Flight 3) against UTEP and Grayson Hall/Tylar Garrett playing in the second flight against Santa Clara.  

• 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. 

• MSU has played 180 total sets this season compiling a record of 95-85. 

• 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  

• Ashley Emery was announced as the Bears new head coach on July 15, 2022.  

• 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.  

• 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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