Beach Volleyball Heads to Louisiana for Bayou Bash

Friday, March 15

Monroe, La. / ULM Beach Volleyball Courts

12:30 p.m.

Missouri State University

Nicholls State

Beach Volleyball Heads to Louisiana for Bayou Bash

March 14, 2024 | Beach Volleyball

Season Stats (PDF)

ULM Bayou Bash Tournament
Dates & Times (CT)	Fri., March 15: vs. Nicholls State (12:30 p.m.), vs. Louisiana Monroe (2:30 p.m.) Sat., March 16: vs. Texas A&M - Kingsville (9:00 a.m.), vs. McNeese State (10:45 a.m.)
Location	Monroe, Louisiana
Site	ULM Beach Volleyball Courts
Missouri State	Beach Volleyball Home Page \| I nstagram \| Twitter \| Facebook

SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State beach volleyball team (11-2) heads back on the road for the second time in its three-weekend road trip as it travels to Monroe, Louisiana for the Bayou Bash hosted by the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

The Bears are once again scheduled to play four matches evenly split across two days on Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16. On Friday, Missouri State will play both of its matches against Louisiana schools. The Bears will open the Bayou Bash against Nicholls State at 12:30 p.m., then take on host team Louisiana Monroe at 2:30 p.m. CT. On Saturday, Missouri State will be up early to take on Texas A&M - Kingsville at 9:00 a.m., followed by McNeese State at 10:45 a.m. CT.

Full Tournament Schedule (Central Time)
Friday, March 15
9:00 a.m.: Texas A&M - Kingsville vs. Nicholls State
10:45 a.m.: Louisiana Monroe vs. McNeese State
12:30 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Nicholls State
2:30 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Louisiana Monroe
4:15 p.m.: Texas A&M - Kingsville vs. McNeese State

Saturday, March 16
9:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Texas A&M - Kingsville
10:45 a.m.: Missouri State vs. McNeese State
12:30 p.m.: Louisiana Monroe vs. Texas A&M - Kingsville
2:30 p.m.: Nicholls State vs. McNeese State
4:15 p.m.: Louisiana Monroe vs. Nicholls State

Scouting the Bears

The Missouri State Bears enter the ULM Bayou Bash with an 11-2 record to mark the best start by the team in its seven-year history.

The Bears went 2-2 last weekend at the Battle on the Bay Tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida last week with wins against Eckerd College and Saint Leo. Seven of Missouri State's 11 wins have come via sweeps.

So far this season, Missouri State has won 110 of their 144 sets played. The Bears are also 52-13 across each flight.

Missouri State has used eight different pair/flight combinations this season. It made its first lineup changes on the second day of the Battle on the Bay with the fourth and fifth flights seeing different personnel. Junior Olivia Rattler made her season debut by winning both of her matches last Saturday.

Flight No. 5 enters the Bayou Bash on an 11-match winning streak. Brooke Plessner and Maddie Schrandt have won ten straight matches on No. 5. Allyson Larkin and Rattler also earned a flight No. 5 win to extend the overall streak to 11.

A Growing Record Book

Multiple Bears are either on pace or have already broken program records during Missouri State's seventh season.

Plessner continues to extend her program record in total matches played as she leads the way with 63. Becca Bach is in sole possession of second on the list with 61 career matches played.

Plessner is also officially third all-time in career wins at MSU with 32, only behind Grace Cook (39) and her longtime flight partner Chloe Tome (38). Rattler's two wins last week moved her to 28 in her career, just one win shy of Parker McAllen for fourth all-time. Bach is sixth all-time with 26 wins.

Larkin holds the best individual record this season at 12-1 (.923), putting her on pace for the highest single-season winning percentage in Bears history.

Scouting the Sands & Series History

Missouri State will open the Bayou Bash with its first-ever matchup against Nicholls State. The Colonels are 6-8 in 2024 and won three of their four matches at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Tournament last weekend in Belton, Texas.

The Bears are 1-2 all-time against the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks with the one win coming earlier this year at Missouri State's first home tournament last month. MSU won that match, 3-2, thanks to a clinching win by Plessner and Schrandt on flight No. 5 on Feb. 24. The Warhawks are 3-5 this season with their loss against the Bears marking the first of an active five-match losing streak.

MSU is 0-1 all-time against Texas A&M - Kingsville. The Javelinas won the lone matchup, 3-2, back on March 11, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. Bach and Plessner were on losing ends in that match on flight Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Rattler won her match on No. 5 in straight sets. Texas A&M - Kingsville enters the Bayou Bash 8-3 and last weekend won three out of four at the Southeastern Invitational hosted by Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, Louisiana.

McNeese State enters the Bayou Bash 1-10 in its inaugural season as a program with its one win coming at home against Tarleton State in the Cowgirl Beach Bash. Since the win, the Cowgirls are on an eight-match losing streak. They also competed at the Southeastern Invitational last weekend.

Head Coach Ashley Emery

Ashley Emery is in her second season as head coach of Missouri State beach volleyball. She enters the weekend with a 20-15 career record.

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 the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after three seasons to compete in Conference USA starting in 2024. Missouri State joins TCU and Tarleton State as new affiliate members of CUSA this season.

#BearsUnite