YOUNGSVILLE, La. - Missouri State beach volleyball (18-9) kept its season alive after the first day of the 2025 Conference USA Tournament at Sugar Beach. After falling to No. 3 seed Florida International, the Bears advanced to the second day of the tournament in consecutive years with a 3-0 sweep over No. 7 seed Tarleton State.


[3] RV Florida International 3, [6] Missouri State 0

The Bears opened the tournament with a rematch from the first round of last year's tournament against Florida International (13-18). The Panthers started the match strong by winning the first set at Flight Nos. 1, 3 and 5, but the Bears battled back to take the opening sets at Nos. 2 and 4. FIU secured the match at Flight No. 1 with two of the flights going unfinished.

The match at Flight No. 3 was the first to conclude. Maddie Schrandt and Morgan Sprague took on two FIU newcomers, Katarina Drozd and Brianna Luoma. The Panthers won the match in straight sets to take the first point, 21-12, 21-17.

Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman battled at Flight No. 5 against Aleksandra Chudzik and Kendra Brown. Rattler and Brown played one another at the CUSA Tournament last season at Flight No. 4 in an unfinished match. This year, Brown got the job done in a 21-16, 21-18 win to give FIU a 2-0 lead.

Before the match was secured, MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary took the first set off of Sophia Vogel and Nicole Robison, 21-17. The Panthers pairing held off the Bears' surge in the second set, 25-23, to maintain the potential sweep as the match went unfinished.

Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer also took the first set from Zoe Cahill and Arianna Franklin in an unfinished match, 21-17. The Panthers also returned the favor with a 21-12 win in the second set. 

Florida International secured its spot in the next round of the winner's bracket at Flight No. 1 in the only match that went to three sets. Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin came back from dropping the first set against Ella Gray and Julia Panko to force the tiebreaking frame. The Panthers won the heated matchup, 21-12, 18-21, 15-11, to advance to the second round of the winner's bracket against No. 2 seed Tulane on Friday.


[6] Missouri State 3, [7] Tarleton State 0

MoState ended Tarleton State's (6-17) second season as a program in the final match of the first day of tournament play. As the sun went down, the lights turned on for the Bears to fight another day with a 3-0 sweep over the Texans.

Flight Nos. 1 and 2 went unfinished even as the Bears were poised to take the point on each of the courts if given the chance to. Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin were at match point against Emma Halcomb and Allison Bryant after taking the first set, 23-21. The Tarleton pair fought off a few match points to tie the second set at 20. Bach and Larkin took one more point before the victory bell sounded to officially end the match.

MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary had their match go unfinished again despite taking the first set, 21-19, over Grayson Schirpik and Hayden Huber. Steele and Cleary have had three matches end unfinished this season.

Flight No. 5 saw the first official conclusion in favor of the Bears. Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman swept the Hawaiian duo of Camilla Chun and Charlize Ching in consistent sets, 21-17, 21-19. Rattler extended her program record wins mark to 61, while Eschleman became the eighth Bears player to reach 40 career victories.

Another milestone was hit at Flight No. 4. Manuela Niemeyer, with the help of her partner Rylie Cepicky, became the third player in team history to reach 50 career wins. The MoState duo defeated Sofia Bendele and Christian Mitchell, 21-14, 21-11.

The team match was officially won at Flight No. 3 by Maddie Schrandt and Morgan Sprague. The two defeated Amaya Brown and Bella Parayno in identical sets, 21-18, 21-18. 

Up Next

Missouri State will move on in the contender's bracket of the CUSA Tournament. The Bears will play to keep their season alive on Friday at 1:00 p.m. against the loser of the matchup between No. 1 seed Florida Atlantic (18-14) and No. 4 seed UAB (20-10), which play Friday at 10:00 a.m. All conference tournament matches on Friday and Saturday will be streamed on ESPN+.