Missouri State vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan | Southwest Baptist | Park University (Mo.)
Dates and Times (CT)	Tues., April 1: vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan (12:00 p.m.)  Sat., April 5: vs. Southwest Baptist (10:00 a.m.) | vs. Park (Mo.) (12:00 p.m.)
Location	Springfield, Missouri
Site	Tuesday: Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts | Missouri State University  Saturday: Volleyball Beach Ozark
Promotion	Saturday - Senior Day
Missouri State	Beach Volleyball Home Page | Instagram | Twitter/X | Facebook

 *This story has been updated with new start times on Saturday and with Saturday's matches now being played at Volleyball Beach Ozark.

SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State beach volleyball (11-3) returns home for a trio of matches throughout the week. The Bears will start the week with one match on Tuesday at noon against Oklahoma Wesleyan. The Beach Bears will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday, April 5 with a pair of matches starting with Southwest Baptist at 10 a.m. and concluding with Park University (Mo.) at 12:00 p.m. Saturday's matches will be played at Volleyball Beach Ozark due to oncoming weather.

Full Week Schedule
Tuesday, April 1
12:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan

Saturday, April 5
10:00 a.m.: Missouri State vs. Southwest Baptist
12:00 p.m.: Missouri State vs. Park (Mo.)
2:00 p.m.: Southwest Baptist vs. Park (Mo.)

Bears on the Beach

• Missouri State is scheduled to play three games at Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts this season after playing five last year. MoState is 43-3 all-time at home.

• The Bears have won 23 consecutive matches at home, including matches at Volleyball Beach Ozark. Their last home loss was on March 4, 2023 to Eastern Kentucky in Ozark.

• Missouri State went 1-2 at the Battle on the Bay Tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida last weekend, defeating host team Eckerd College and falling to Palm Beach Atlantic and Tampa al by a score of 3-2. The Bears also defeated South Florida by the same score in an exhibition match to end the tournament.

• Across their 14 matches so far, Missouri State has earned nine sweeps and has won 114 of 147 sets the team has played as a whole (.776). 

• Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman went 3-0 at the Battle of the Bay Tournament at Flight No. 5, with sweeps on Friday against Palm Beach Atlantic and Eckerd College and a three-set victory on Saturday against Tampa. 

• Rattler increased her program career wins record to 54, while Eschleman's 33 wins ties Olivia Muriel for 10th all-time.

• Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin's win against PBA moved Bach (47) one win shy of Brooke Plessner (48) for the second-most wins in school history. Larkin (36) is now one win shy of Maddie Schrandt, a fellow sophomore, for eighth all-time. Bach and Larkin are 11-3 as a pair this season.

• Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer went 2-1 at the tournament to improve their pair record to a team-best 12-1. Niemeyer's career win total improved to 42, one shy of MacKenzie Steele for fourth all-time. 

• Schrandt and Morgan Sprague exited the tournament with a 10-4 record at Flight No. 3. Their win over Eckerd College moved Schrandt to one win behind Chloe Tome for seventh all-time.

• Steele and Amanda 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.

Program Career Wins List
1. Olivia Rattler (2022-25) - 54
2. Brooke Plessner (2021-24) - 48
3. Becca Bach (2022-25) - 47
4. MacKenzie Steele (2023-25) - 43
5. Manuela Niemeyer (2023-25) - 42
6. Grace Cook (2020-22) - 39
7. Chloe Tome (2020-22) 38
8. Maddie Schrandt (2024-25) - 37
9. Allyson Larkin (2024-25) - 36
T-10. Olivia Muriel (2023-24) - 33
T-10. Erin Eschleman (2024-25) - 33

Scouting the Sands and Series History

• Missouri State is 3-0 all-time against Oklahoma Wesleyan, including two wins last season. All three wins have been at home and have been 5-0 sweeps for the Bears.

• MoState is 6-0 all-time against Southwest Baptist and has defeated the Bearcats twice already this year. The Bears opened both of their tournaments at Volleyball Beach Ozark with 5-0 victories over SBU. Southwest Baptist is 8-10 this season and is coming off a 3-1 weekend at Volleyball Beach Ozark with two wins over Oklahoma Wesleyan and a win over Park (Mo.).

• The Bears are 5-0 all-time against the Park (Mo.) Pirates, including a 5-0 sweep on Feb. 22 in Ozark. All five Missouri State against Park (Mo.) have been sweeps. Park is 8-5 this season and will play Ottawa (Kan.) twice on Thursday before playing in Springfield on Saturday.

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 46-23 (.667) 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.