SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State beach volleyball (17-8) is set to compete in its second Conference USA tournament from April 24-26 at Sugar Beach in Youngsville, Louisiana. The Bears are the No. 6 seed in the nine-team field and will open the tournament against No. 3 seed Florida International (12-18) for the second straight season. The match will start on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Tournament Breakdown
The CUSA Beach Volleyball Tournament follows a double-elimination format with teams moving from the "Winner's Bracket" to the "Contender's Bracket" following their first loss. All matches on Friday and Saturday will be streamed on ESPN+. The championship match is set for Saturday, April 26 at 11:00 a.m. CT.
A Missouri State win over Florida International on Thursday would advance the Bears straight into the second day of competition, where they would play the winner of No. 2 Tulane (26-9) and No. 7 Tarleton State (5-15) on Friday at 8:30 a.m. A Bears loss against the Panthers would send MoState to the Contender's Bracket, where it will wait until Friday night for matchups to be set. The losers of the No. 8 Sam Houston State/No. 9 Jacksonville State matchup and the No. 2 Tulane/No. 7 Tarleton State matchup will go head to head on Friday at 4:00 p.m. for a chance to stay alive against Missouri State at 7:00 p.m. A Missouri State win would advance the Bears to play Friday at 1:00 p.m. against the loser of the 10:00 a.m. winner's bracket match.
Bears on the Beach
- Missouri State ended the regular season at the Fight on the Fort hosted by TCU. The Bears went 1-3 in the tournament with their one win coming at the end against Houston Christian. The Bears lost to No. 13 Grand Canyon, No. 2 Texas Christian and Louisiana Monroe in their first three matches.
- Across 25 matches this season, MoState has swept its opponents in 13 of them. The Bears have won 179 out of 265 total sets played (.676).
- MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary secured their 36th career win as a duo against Houston Christian last week to claim the program record for wins by a pair. The two are 16-8 this season and 36-19 as a team across the last two seasons.
- Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer are 19-5 this season, including a 19-4 record at Flight No. 4 this season. They look to become the fifth pair in Bears history to reach 20 wins together in one season.
- Steele and Niemeyer enter the CUSA Tournament with 49 career wins. They look to become the third and fourth players in program history to reach 50 career victories.
- Olivia Rattler became the first Bear to reach 60 career wins with a victory at Flight No. 5 against Houston Christian alongside Erin Eschleman. The two are 15-7 as a tandem this year.
Program Career Wins List
1. Olivia Rattler (2022-25) - 60
2. Becca Bach (2022-25) - 52
T-3. MacKenzie Steele (2023-25) - 49
T-3. Manuela Niemeyer (2023-25) - 49
5.
Brooke Plessner (2021-24) - 48
6. Maddie Schrandt (2024-25) - 43
7. Allyson Larkin (2024-25) - 41
T-8. Grace Cook (2020-22) - 39
T-8. Erin Eschleman (2024-25) - 39
10. Chloe Tome (2020-22) - 38
Scouting the Sands
- Missouri State won two matches in its first appearance at the CUSA Tournament last year. After falling to No. 14-ranked Florida International in the first round, the Bears defeated Jacksonville State and UTEP to advance to the second day of competition. Their season ended the following day against Tulane, which advanced all the way to the championship match against TCU.
- TCU now competes in the Big 12, which added beach volleyball this season. The newest addition to the CUSA beach volleyball field is Sam Houston State, which is in its inaugural season in the sport. The Bearkats will kick off the tournament against Jacksonville State on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. with the winner taking on top seed Florida Atlantic at 2:30 p.m.
- The Bears are 0-3 all-time against Florida International. The Panthers were ranked either No. 14 or 15 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll in each of those matchups. FIU received five votes in the most recent poll released on Tuesday, making Thursday the first time the Panthers meet the Bears as an unranked opponent.
- Top seed Florida Atlantic enters the CUSA Tournament as the lone nationally-ranked team in the conference. The Owls (17-14) are No. 16 on the AVCA Poll. Tulane (26-9) received 25 votes on the poll, the most of any team not ranked in the top 20.
- Missouri State went 0-1 in regular season conference play. The Bears fell to UAB, 3-2, at the Blazer Beach Bash on April 11. MoState opened the match with wins at Flight Nos. 2 and 4, but the Blazers fired back with wins at Nos. 1, 3 and 5.
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 52-28 (.650) career beach volleyball head coaching record, making her the all-time winningest coach in the program's history.Â
- Emery spent the 2021 season as a volunteer assistant for the Missouri State 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.Â
- 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.Â
- 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.
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