Battle on the Bay Tournament
Dates and Times (CT)	Fri., March 28: vs. Palm Beach Atlantic (9:30 a.m.) | at Eckerd College (3:30 p.m.)   Sat., March 29: vs. Tampa (7:30 a.m.) | vs. South Florida (1:30 p.m.)
Location	St. Petersburg, Florida
Site	Baker Beach Volleyball Complex | Eckerd College
Watch	vs. Eckerd College (Sunshine State Conference Digital Network)
Missouri State	Beach Volleyball Home Page | Instagram | Twitter/X | Facebook

SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State beach volleyball (10-1) heads back on the road after a weekend off to take part in the Battle on the Bay Tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Baker Beach Volleyball Complex.

The Bears will play four matches this weekend, starting with two on Friday against Palm Beach Atlantic (9:30 a.m.) and host team Eckerd (3:30 p.m.). MoState will finish the tournament on Saturday against Tampa (7:30 a.m.) and South Florida (1:30 p.m.). The South Florida match will be counted as an exhibition and will not count for team and player records.

All matches involving Eckerd, including against Missouri State on Friday at 3:30, can be viewed on the Sunshine State Conference Digital Network.

Full Tournament Schedule (Central Time)
Friday, March 28
7:30 a.m.: South Florida vs. Tampa (Exh.)
9:30 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Palm Beach Atlantic
11:30 a.m.: South Florida at Eckerd (Exh.)
1:30 p.m.: Palm Beach Atlantic vs. Tampa
3:30 p.m.: Missouri State at Eckerd

Saturday, March 29
7:30 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Tampa
9:30 a.m.: Palm Beach Atlantic vs. South Florida (Exh.)
11:30 a.m.: Tampa at Eckerd
1:30 p.m.: Missouri State vs. South Florida (Exh.)
3:30 p.m.: Palm Beach Atlantic at Eckerd

Bears on the Beach

• Missouri State will compete in the Battle on the Bay Tournament at Eckerd College for the fourth consecutive year. The Bears are 5-7 all-time in the Battle on the Bay Tournament and went 2-2 last year, defeating Eckerd and Saint Leo and falling to Palm Beach Atlantic and Jacksonville.

• At 10-1, Missouri State holds the highest winning percentage in Conference USA (.909). The Bears are also an undefeated 8-0 at home this season and are 43-3 at home across the program's eight-year history. The lone Bears loss this season came in their one road match against North Alabama, which was played to decision due to weather.

• Across their 11 matches so far, the Bears have earned sweeps in nine of them and have won 96 of the 111 (.856) sets the team has played as a whole.

• Missouri State is a perfect 10-0 at Flight Nos. 2 and 4. MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary have won every match at No. 2, while Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer are also 10-0 at No. 2. Each pair did not play North Alabama due to the match being played to decision. Each pair is one win shy of tying the longest winning streak by a Bears duo at each flight.

• With her two wins at the Shoals Beach Bash, Niemeyer became the fifth player in Missouri State history to win 40 career matches.

• Steele and Cleary's 10 wins together this season bring their career total as a pair to 30, marking the second time a Missouri State pair has reached that milestone. Grace Cook and Chloe Tome hold the team record with 35 career wins together.

• Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin enter the weekend 10-1 this season at Flight No. 1. The two defeated Tusculum in three sets and Chattanooga in two sets. Their loss to North Alabama officially set the longest winning streak at No. 1 in team history at nine victories. 

• The Bears are 9-2 at both Flight Nos. 3 and 5. Morgan Sprague and Maddie Schrandt have played every match at No. 3 together. Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman are 6-2 at No. 5 together. Rattler and Riley Drew played the first three matches of the season at No. 5 and are 3-0 as a duo.

Program All-Time Wins List

1. Olivia Rattler (2022-25) - 51
2. Brooke Plessner (2021-24) - 48
3. Becca Bach (2022-25) - 46
4. MacKenzie Steele (2023-25) - 43
5. Manuela Niemeyer (2023-25) - 40
6. Grace Cook (2020-22) - 39
7. Chloe Tome (2020-22) 38
8. Maddie Schrandt (2024-25) - 36
9. Allyson Larkin (2024-25) - 35
10. Olivia Muriel (2023-24) - 33

Scouting the Sands & Series History

• Missouri State will open the Battle on the Bay Tournament against Palm Beach Atlantic (11-8) on Friday. The Sailfish have prevailed against the Bears each of the last two seasons in St. Petersburg, including a 3-2 victory last season which represented the Bears' first loss of the year. Palm Beach Atlantic has played five ranked teams this year all from the state of Florida, including three last weekend at the Hatters Invitational hosted by No. 16 Stetson.

• MoState is 3-0 all-time against Eckerd, having beaten the Tritons at each of the last three Battle on the Bay Tournaments. Last season, the Bears won at Flights 2-5 in what was Missouri State's 10th straight win to start the 2024 campaign. Eckerd is 6-10 this season and is coming off wins against New College of Florida and Ave Maria University on March 20.

• The Bears open Saturday bright and early against Tampa (6-8). Missouri State is 0-3 all-time against the Spartans going back to the 2020 Florida International University Beach Bash. Since then, Tampa has gotten the upper hand over Missouri State in the Battle on the Bay Tournament in 2022 and 2023. The Spartans are coming off of 5-0 sweeps over Saint Leo and Barry University back on March 21.

• Missouri State and South Florida will meet for the first time on Saturday, albeit in an exhibition setting. USF announced on Nov. 5, 2024 that it would join Conference USA as an affiliate member in beach volleyball and spend the 2025 season playing exhibition matches to prepare for the 2026 season.

Head Coach Ashley Emery

• Ashley Emery is in 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 tenure in program history. She enters the weekend with a 45-21 (.682) 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. 

• The Bears will compete in its second CUSA Tournament running from April 24-26 at Sugar Beach in Youngsville, Louisiana.