Beach Volleyball February 27, 2025

Beach Volleyball Remains in Ozark for Beach Bear Bash

Beach Bear Bash
Dates and Times (CT)	Fri., Feb. 28: vs. Southwest Baptist (9:00 a.m.), vs. Lindenwood (3:00 p.m.) Sat., March 1: vs. Hendrix College (8:00 a.m.), vs. Central Arkansas (2:00 p.m.)
Location	Ozark, Missouri
Site	Volleyball Beach Ozark
Admission	Free
Follow Along	Live Stats: vs. Southwest Baptist \| vs. Lindenwood \| vs. Hendrix College \| vs. Central Arkansas
Missouri State	Beach Volleyball Home Page \| Instagram \| Twitter/X \| Facebook

SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State beach volleyball (4-0) is back at Volleyball Beach Ozark after an undefeated showing in its opening tournament last weekend. MoState will host four visiting beach volleyball programs on Friday (Feb. 28) and Saturday (March 1) as it looks to go undefeated at the indoor facility for the second year in a row. Admission is free for all attendees.

The Bears will start the Beach Bear Bash on Friday with two rematches from last week against Southwest Baptist (9:00 a.m.) and Lindenwood (3:00 p.m.). Missouri State swept both the Bearcats and Lions to bookend the season-opening tournament. The Bears close the tournament on Saturday against Hendrix College (8:00 a.m.) and Central Arkansas (2:00 p.m.).

Full Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 28
9:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs Southwest Baptist (Live Stats)
11:00 a.m.: Lindenwood vs. Hendrix College
1:00 p.m.: Central Arkansas vs. Southwest Baptist
3:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Lindenwood (Live Stats)
5:00 p.m. Hendrix College vs. Central Arkansas

Saturday, March 1
8:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Hendrix College (Live Stats)
10:00 a.m.: Central Arkansas vs. Lindenwood
12:00 p.m.: Hendrix College vs. Southwest Baptist
2:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Central Arkansas (Live Stats)
4:00 p.m.: Lindenwood vs. Southwest Baptist

Bears on the Beach

Missouri State hosts two tournaments at Volleyball Beach Ozark for the third consecutive season. The Bears went 7-1 in the facility in 2023 and 9-0 at the venue in 2024 as part of the team's 26-7 overall season. The team went a perfect 14-0 at home last year and is 39-5 at home all-time.

In its first tournament, the Bears won all 20 flights across the five matches and won 40 of the 42 sets played.

Flight Nos. 1-4 remained the same across the first tournament. Flight No. 5 saw a change in the last match against Lindenwood, with Erin Eschleman taking over for Riley Drew alongside Olivia Rattler. The results stayed the same with the Bears winning every set.

Morgan Sprague and Rylie Cepicky earned their first career beach wins last weekend. Sprague was paired with Maddie Schrandt at Flight No. 3 and won every set. Cepicky teamed up with Manuela Niemeyer at Flight No. 4 to sweep every match.

Rattler's four wins last weekend moved her to within two career wins of the all-time program record. Rattler (46) has a chance to tie former Bear Brooke Plessner (48) with two wins on Friday and is in line to break the record on Saturday.

Program All-Time Wins List

1. Brooke Plessner (2021-24) - 48
2. Olivia Rattler (2022-25) - 46
3. Becca Bach (2022-25) - 40
4. Grace Cook (2020-22) - 39
5. Chloe Tome (2020-22) 38
6. MacKenzie Steele (2023-25) - 37
7. Manuela Niemeyer (2023-25) - 34
8. Olivia Muriel (2023-24) - 33
9. Maddie Schrandt (2024-25) - 31
T-10. Parker McAllen (2020-22) - 29
T-10. Allyson Larkin (2024-25) - 29

Scouting the Sands & Series History

Missouri State is 5-0 all-time against Southwest Baptist, including last week's win over the Bearcats. All five matchups have come since the start of the 2023 season. SBU went 2-3 at the Missouri State Tournament last week with wins against Hendrix and McKendree.

The Bears are 4-0 all-time against Lindenwood after their win over the weekend. As with SBU, all matchups between the Bears and Lions have come since 2023. Lindenwood went 3-1 at Volleyball Beach Ozark last weekend with its only loss coming to Missouri State.

MoState is 4-0 all-time against Hendrix College in a head-to-head series that dates back to 2022. The Bears are 3-0 against the Warriors at home. Division III Hendrix went 1-3 last weekend in Ozark with a 4-1 win over DII McKendree.

Missouri State is 2-2 all-time against Central Arkansas with both wins coming last year in Conway during the Beach Bear Clash. UCA won the first two meetings in 2021 and 2022, each by a score of 3-2.

Head Coach Ashley Emery

Ashley Emery begins her third season as head coach of Missouri State beach volleyball, tying her with inaugural head coach Terri Del Conte (2018-20) for the longest-tenured coach. She enters the weekend with a 39-20 (.661) career beach volleyball head coaching record, making her the all-time winningest coach in the program's history.

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

Missouri State beach volleyball enters its second season as an affiliate member of Conference USA after announcing the move on May 11, 2023. The Bears went 2-3 against CUSA foes last season, including the 2024 CUSA Tournament.