Beach Bears Take Perfect Record to Battle on the Bay

Friday, March 8

St. Petersburg, Fla. / Baker Beach Volleyball Complex

9:00 a.m.

Missouri State University

Eckerd

Beach Bears Take Perfect Record to Battle on the Bay

March 07, 2024 | Beach Volleyball

SSC Digital Network Season Stats (PDF)

Battle on the Bay Tournament
Dates & Times	Fri., March 8: vs. Eckerd College (9:00 a.m.), vs. Palm Beach Atlantic (3:00 p.m.) Sat., March 9: vs. Jacksonville (7:00 a.m.), vs. Saint Leo (1:00 p.m.)
Location	St. Petersburg, Florida
Site	Baker Beach Volleyball Complex
Follow Along	Sunshine State Conference Digital Network
Missouri State	Beach Volleyball Home Page \| I nstagram \| Twitter \| Facebook

SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State beach volleyball team (9-0) takes its unblemished record on the road for the first time this season for its third appearance in the Battle on the Bay Tournament hosted by Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. The Sunshine State Conference Digital Network will broadcast all tournament games against Eckerd.

Like in last week's Mo State Tournament 2, the Bears will play four matches evenly split across two days on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9. On Friday, Missouri State will play its first match against the host team of Eckerd College at 9:00 a.m. CT followed by Palm Beach Atlantic University at 3:00 p.m. CT. On Saturday, the Bears will be up bright and early against Jacksonville University at 7:00 p.m. CT, then conclude its stay at the bay against Saint Leo University at 1:00 p.m. CT.

Full Tournament Schedule (Central Time)
Friday, March 8
7:00 a.m.: Jacksonville vs. Eckerd
9:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Eckerd (Watch)
11:00 a.m.: Saint Leo vs. Jacksonville
1:00 p.m.: Palm Beach Atlantic vs. Saint Leo
3:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Palm Beach Atlantic

Saturday, March 9
7:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Jacksonville
9:00 a.m.: Palm Beach Atlantic vs. Eckerd
11:00 a.m.: Jacksonville vs. Palm Beach Atlantic
1:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Saint Leo
3:00 p.m. Eckerd vs. Saint Leo

Scouting the Bears

Missouri State is in the midst of a record nine-match winning streak, surpassing the seven-game winning streak it had at the start of last season. The 9-0 start by the Bears is the best in the team's seven-year history.

The Bears swept all four of their opponents last week with 5-0 victories against Southwest Baptist, Eastern Illinois, Park University and Lindenwood. All but two of the wins by Missouri State have been via a sweep on all flights.

So far this season, Missouri State has won 84 of the 97 sets it has played. The Bears are also 41-4 on each flight.

Missouri State has used the same pairings on each flight in all nine of its matches. The pairings of Olivia Muriel and Erin Eschleman on flight No. 3 and Kenzi McSpadden and Allyson Larkin on flight No. 4 are undefeated and on a program record nine-match winning streak on their respective flights.

The Bears also see school record streaks on flight No. 1 and No. 5. Becca Bach and Manuela Niemeyer (8-1) are on a six-match winning streak on the lead flight. Brooke Plessner and Maddie Schrandt (8-1) are on a seven-match winning streak on No. 5.

A Growing Record Book

Multiple long-tenured Bears are either on pace or have already broken program records in Missouri State beach volleyball's seventh season.

Plessner continues to grow her all-time record in matches played. She enters the weekend with 59 official matches (not counting extra flight matches). Bach moved into second on the all-time list behind Plessner with 57 matches played.

Plessner is also now tied for third with Parker McAllen in individual wins in team history with 29. She is now the leader among active players. Bach is also now in the top five with 25 career wins. Niemeyer moved into the top 10, now sitting with 21 wins. Niemeyer has a career winning percentage of .700, only behind Grace Cook (.709). Cook is the all-time leader in wins for the Bears with 39.

Scouting the Field & Series History

Missouri State makes its third straight appearance at the Battle on the Bay Tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida. Across the last two seasons, Missouri State is 5-3 at the tournament, including a 2-2 split in 2022 and 3-1 in 2023.

The Bears hold a 2-0 record against the Eckerd College Tritons with both wins coming in the last two Battle on the Bay Tournaments. Both wins came in via a tight 3-2 victory at the North Shore Courts. Eckerd is 0-6 to start the season, dropping each match 5-0.

MSU lost its one matchup against Palm Beach Atlantic to open last year's Battle on the Bay, 4-1. Addison Crider and Riley Drew won the match on flight No. 5 in straight sets. The Sailfish are 6-5 coming into the weekend and are coming off a 3-1 showing at the FIU Invitational.

Missouri State will face off against Jacksonville University for the first time on Saturday. The Dolphins are 2-8 to start the season, including a win against Palm Beach Atlantic. Jacksonville enters the Battle on the Bay on a five-match losing streak.

The Bears have split its two matches against Saint Leo University across its two Battle on the Bay showdowns. Missouri State won the first matchup to open the 2022 tournament, 3-2. The Lions got their revenge in last year's tournament with a 5-0 sweep to knot up the all-time series.

Head Coach Ashley Emery

Ashley Emery is in her second season as head coach of Missouri State beach volleyball. She enters the weekend with an 18-13 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 CCSA 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