Missouri State at CUSA Tournament
Location	Miami, Fla.
Site	Ocean Bank Convocation Center
Tournament Central	ConferenceUSA.com
Match 1	vs. (1) UTEP Nov. 21, 11 a.m. CT Live Stats | ESPN+
Missouri State	Match Notes Volleyball Home Page

Storylines for the CUSA Volleyball Championship
1) Missouri State (11-16, 6-10 Conference USA) brings the No. 8 seed into the CUSA Volleyball Championship in Miami, qualifying for the field on the final day of the regular season. MoState will play top-seeded UTEP (25-3, 15-1) Friday at 11 a.m. Central in the first quarterfinal.

2) Though it's the first CUSA Tournament for the Bears, MoState has a strong history in conference tournaments from its Missouri Valley Conference days. The Bears were 36-32 all time at the MVC tourney with titles in 1990, 1993, 2005, 2008 and 2017. 

3) Missouri State has a young roster in 2025 with seven freshmen and six sophomores among the 18 members of the squad. Additionally, all seven Missouri natives on the squad are from within 75 miles of the MSU campus.

4) Freshmen have accounted for 48 percent of Missouri State's kills this season. Peyton McKee leads the team with 267 kills on a 2.90 per set average, and won CUSA Freshman of the Week honors on Sept. 8. 
    Hannah Gardner has the only two triple-doubles by a freshman in school history and is one of five players nationally with 170 kills, 430 assists and 210 digs. She was named CUSA Freshman of the Week on Oct. 20 in addition to the league's All-Freshman Team.

5) The Bears rank fourth in CUSA and 81st nationally with 2.37 blocks per set. Lizanyela Lopez (3rd - 1.22/set) and Grace Smith (6th - 1.11) both rank among the league's individual leaders, and each have a match with 11 blocks this season. Lopez also leads CUSA with 122 total blocks, the fourth-most by an MSU player in the 25-point scoring era (since 2008). As a team, MoState has 10 matches with 10-plus stuffs this year.

6) MSU has ranked in the top 32 nationally in total digs in four of the last five seasons, finishing 10th in 2020-21, 11th in 2023, 32nd in 2022, and fourth in 2024. 
    The Bears is lead CUSA with 14.63 digs per set in 2025.

7) MoState has notched the top five ace averages since the 25-point scoring era began in the last five seasons, with at least 1.24 per set in each season under Coach McRoberts, including 1.41 so far in 2025.

8) Head coach Steven McRoberts is in his sixth season in Springfield and 29th overall as a head coach with 668 victories to his credit, good for 9th among active Division I coaches.
    Coach Mac is no stranger to Conference USA, with a 50-16 career record in league matches. As Tulsa's head coach from 2011-13, McRoberts won two regular season titles, one tournament championship and the 2011 CUSA Coach of the Year award

9) First-year Missouri State assistant coach Lori Endicott-Vandersnick helped Team USA to a bronze medal in volleyball at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and was named the best setter at the '92 Games.