Beach Volleyball Starts Season in Ozark for Home Tournament

Friday, February 23

Ozark, Mo.

9:00 a.m.

Missouri State University

Hendrix

Beach Volleyball Starts Season in Ozark for Home Tournament

February 22, 2024 | Beach Volleyball

Volleyball Beach Ozark Live Stats vs. Hendrix Live Stats vs. UT-Martin Live Stats vs. ULM Live Stats vs. Lindenwood Live Stats vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan

Missouri State Tournament 1
Dates	Fri., Feb. 23: vs. Hendrix College (9:00 a.m.), vs. UT-Martin (2:00 p.m.) Sat., Feb. 24: vs. Louisiana-Monroe (10:00 a.m.), vs. Lindenwood (1:00 p.m.), vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan (3:00 p.m.)
Location	Ozark, Missouri
Site	Volleyball Beach Ozark
Follow Along	Live Stats: vs. Hendrix \| vs. UT-Martin \| vs. ULM \| vs. Lindenwood \| vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
Missouri State	Instagram \| Twitter \| Facebook \| Beach Volleyball Home Page

SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State beach volleyball team is set to begin its 2024 season this weekend as the Bears host their first of two tournaments on Friday and Saturday at Volleyball Beach Ozark at the indoor courts in Ozark, Mo. Admission will be free for tournament attendees.

Missouri State opens the season on Friday with two matches against Hendrix College at 9:00 a.m. and UT-Martin at 2:00 p.m. The following day, the Bears will have three matches starting against Louisiana-Monroe at 10:00 a.m., Lindenwood at 1:00 p.m. and Oklahoma Wesleyan at 3:00 p.m.

Full Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 23
9:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Hendrix College | UT-Martin vs. Louisiana-Monroe
11:00 a.m.: Lindenwood vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan | Southwest Baptist vs. Hendrix College
2:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. UT-Martin | Oklahoma Wesleyan vs. Southwest Baptist
4:00 p.m.: Louisiana-Monroe vs. Lindenwood

Saturday, Feb. 24
8:00 a.m.: Southwest Baptist vs. Louisiana-Monroe | UT Martin vs. Hendrix College
10:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Louisiana-Monroe | Hendrix vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
1:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Lindenwood | Southwest Baptist vs. UT-Martin
3:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan | Hendrix vs. Lindenwood

Looking Ahead

Missouri State has a total of 30 regular season matches this season, the most it has ever scheduled. The Bears had their inaugural season in 2018 and is entering its seventh season as a program.

This year's roster consists of 20 players, including five true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen. The Bears feature 13 returners: Natasha Thoms, Kenzi McSpadden, Riley Drew, Claudia Wala, Trinity White, Manuela Niemeyer, MacKenzie Steele, Amanda Cleary, Becca Bach, Olivia Rattler, Addison Crider, Brooke Plessner and Olivia Muriel.

A Growing Record Book

Multiple long-tenured Bears have a chance to grow their Missouri State legacy by solidifying all-time career records this season.

Junior Olivia Rattler enters this season fourth all-time in individual wins in Missouri State history (26). The current leader is Grace Cook (2020-22) with 39 career wins. Senior Brooke Plessner is sixth in the list with 22 career wins.

Plessner is fourth all-time in matches played at Missouri State with 53, on pace to pass Cook's leading total of 55. Rattler is close behind in fifth with 49 matches played, followed by junior Becca Bach in sixth (48).

Series History

Missouri State holds a 3-0 all-time record against Hendrix College with a 5-0 win in last year's season-opener on Feb. 24, 2023.

The Bears are 2-1 against UT-Martin, winning the last two matchups both in 2023. UT-Martin enters Mo State Tournament 1 having received one vote in the AVCA Collegiate Beach Preseason Poll released on Feb. 16, 2024.

Missouri State is 0-2 all-time against Louisiana-Monroe with both losses coming in 2021. The Bears will compete in the Bayou Bash hosted by ULM in March where the two will square off again this season.

The Bears are 1-0 against Lindenwood with the lone matchup coming on the first day of last year's Mo State Tournament 1 with MSU winning 4-1.

Missouri State is also 1-0 all-time against Oklahoma Wesleyan, also playing the Eagles to conclude last season's Mo State Tournament 1 in a 5-0 sweep. The Bears and Eagles will play a total of three times this season, all being home matches for Missouri State.

Head Coach Ashley Emery

Ashley Emery enters her second season as head coach of Missouri State beach volleyball and is in line for her 10th career win this weekend.

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 indoor volleyball at Southwest Baptist University where she is still the all-time leader in kills (1,156), attack percentage (.303) and points (1,419).

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 Conference USA

On May 11, 2023, Missouri State announced that its beach volleyball team would leave CCSA after three seasons to compete in Conference USA starting in 2024. Missouri State joins TCU and TarletonState as affiliate members of CUSA.

The Bears are set to play Tarleton State on April 13 at the Beach Bear Clash hosted by Central Arkansas. Missouri State will compete in its first Conference USA Tournament in Youngsville, Louisiana from April 25 to April 27.

Other teams competing in Conference USA are Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Jacksonville State, Tulane, UAB and UTEP. The Bears will also play UTEP on March 22 at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson.

2023 in Review

Missouri State is coming off a 9-13 season in its final year in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. The Bears earned four sweeps and started the season 7-0, the longest winning streak in program history.

The Bears concluded last season in the CCSA Tournament with losses to No. 6 LSU and to a No. 2 TCU squad that went to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.