UCA Beach Bear Clash
Dates & Times (CT)	Fri., April 12: vs. Austin Peay State (10:00 a.m.) | vs. Central Arkansas (Noon)  Sat., April 13: vs. Central Arkansas (10:00 a.m.)
Location	Conway, Arkansas
Site	Beach Bear Sand Courts
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SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State beach volleyball team (18-5) heads back on the road one final time in the regular season as it sets out for Conway, Arkansas for the Beach Bear Clash hosted by the University of Central Arkansas.

The Bears will play two Atlantic Sun Conference teams over two days on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13. Missouri State opens the Beach Bear Clash against the Austin Peay State Governors on Friday at 10:00 a.m., followed by the host team Central Arkansas Bears at noon CT. MSU will play one match on Saturday with a rematch against Central Arkansas set for 10:00 a.m.

Full Tournament Schedule (Central Time)
Friday, April 12
10:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Austin Peay State
12:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Central Arkansas
2:00 p.m. Central Arkansas vs. Austin Peay State

Saturday, April 13
10:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Central Arkansas
12:30 p.m.: Central Arkansas vs. Austin Peay State

Scouting the Bears

• The Missouri State Bears are coming off a perfect showing in its first on-campus matches last weekend against Southwest Baptist and Ottawa (Kansas), sweeping both on April 6. 

• MSU's 18 wins are already a program record, surpassing the 13 wins it had after the 2019 season. 

• 11 of Missouri State's 18 wins this season have come via a sweep, which is also a program-best.

• So far this season, Missouri State has won 176 of 256 sets played (.688%). The Bears are also a combined 82-31 on each flight. 

• Missouri State has used 10 different pair/flight combinations this season. Sophomore Riley Drew and senior Addison Crider made their season debuts last Saturday and each went undefeated with Drew winning both of her matches on No. 1 with Becca Bach and Crider winning on No. 4 with Olivia Rattler against Ottawa.

• Flight No. 5 continues to be a bright spot for the Bears as senior Brooke Plessner and freshman Maddie Schrandt led the team with 19 wins as a pair. Not far are Olivia Muriel and Erin Eschleman on No. 3 with 18 wins. 

• Plessner and Schrandt are the fifth-ranked No. 5 pair by collegebeachvb.com.

A Growing Record Book

• Multiple Bears are either on pace or have surpassed single-season and career records in Missouri State beach volleyball's seventh season. 

• Plessner made history last weekend by becoming Missouri State's career wins leader with 40, surpassing Grace Cook who had 39. She could extend her record in this weekend's three matches. 

• Other current Bears have also made their way up the all-time wins list. Junior Olivia Rattler is fourth in career wins with 34. Bach moved up to fifth last week and sits at 30 wins. Junior MacKenzie Steele is in seventh with 27 wins. Senior Olivia Muriel is in eighth with 26 wins and sophomore Manuela Niemeyer is in ninth with 24 career victories.

• Plessner and Schrandt's 19 wins are the second-most by a Bears pair in a single season, only behind Cook and Chloe Tome's 23 wins in the 2022 season. Muriel and Echleman are third on the single-season wins list at 18.

Scouting the Sands & Series History

• Missouri State is 5-4 in neutral matches and 2-1 in road matches this season. The Bears will play two road matches against a host team in the same tournament for the first time this season.

• The Bears will play Austin Peay State for the first-ever time on Friday. The Governors enter the Beach Bear Clash with a 12-12 record and are on a four-game winning streak, defeating Jacksonville State twice, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin by a combined score of 18-2.

• Missouri State is 0-2 all-time against the Central Arkansas Bears with both losses ending with a final score of 3-2. Central Arkansas won the first meeting on March 26, 2021 in Springfield and followed that up the following year with a win on March 25, 2022 in Conway. Plessner was swept on No. 5 in the 2021 match. In 2022, Crider was swept on No. 3 and Rattler won via a sweep on No. 5. This season, UCA is 7-20 and enters its first home matches of the season on a three-match losing streak, dropping matches against Ottawa (Arizona), Grand Canyon and UTEP at the Canyon Classic in Phoenix.

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 27-18 career beach volleyball head coaching 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. 

• She served as the interim volleyball head coach at Missouri S&T for the 2017 season following five years as a high school coach in Oklahoma where she led the Broken Arrow varsity team to three state tournament appearances from 2014 to 2016. 

• Emery guided Edison Prep in Tulsa to the school's first-ever state tournament appearances in 2012 and 2013. She was named the Green County Coach of the Year in 2013.

• A native of Osceola, Missouri, 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.