OZARK, Mo. - Missouri State beach volleyball (14-3) celebrated its Senior Day in style with a pair of sweeps over Southwest Baptist and Park University (Mo.) on Saturday in the confines of Volleyball Beach Ozark. The matches had originally been set to play at Betty & Bobby Allison Sand Courts but had to be moved due to rainy conditions in the forecast.

"While we didn't get the chance to celebrate on our home courts today, we made the most of it and created lasting memories for this incredible group of seniors," head coach Ashley Emery said. "It's bittersweet knowing this will be their last time playing at home this season."

The Bears honored Macy Blackburn, Maddy Bushnell, Riley Drew, Erin Eschleman, Olivia Rattler and Becca Bach in between each of Missouri State's matches. The senior classes for both SBU and Park were also recognized.

Missouri State 5, Southwest Baptist 0

MoState earned its third sweep over SBU this season and improved its all-time series record against the Bearcats to 7-0. MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary were the first to get on the board with a dominant, 21-9, 21-13, showing over Reagan Hoerning and Chandler Lawrence. Steele and Cleary have defeated a different combination of Bearcats in all three matchups at Flight No. 2, all of which include Hoerning.

Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer handled business shortly after at Flight No. 4 against Kynzie Lilly and Rory Stanley in the first matchup between the two pairs this season. The Bears took the victory, 21-12, 21-10, to increase the team's lead.

The senior pair of Rattler and Eschleman secured the clinching point at Flight No. 5 by following up a strong first set with an even more impressive second set against Logan Drennan and Madison Satterly, who had been at No. 4 in the first two matches between the teams. Rattler and Eschleman added to their winning streak with the victory, 21-14, 21-9.

The latter two flights saw some contention, particularly in the opening sets. Maddie Schrandt and Morgan Sprague went back-and-forth against Ryan Russell and Addi Fanning, a duo they faced in the very first match of the season back in February. This time around, Russell and Fanning pushed the Bears to the brink by going point-for-point after each team reached 21 points in the first set. Schradnt and Sprague finally managed to get two consecutive points to win the first set, 26-24. The second set fared much better with the Bears winning it, 21-13.

At Flight No. 1, Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin were in the heat of battle in their first face-off of the year against Lexie Schauffler and Carlee Lill. The Bearcats took two points at the end of the first set to take it, 21-19, in what ended up as the only lost set for the Bears all day. Bach and Larkin battled back to win the second set, 21-14, and held on to win the tiebreaking set, 15-11.


Missouri State 5, Park (Mo.) 0

MoState completed the perfect week of home play with another 5-0 sweep over Park University. It was its sixth all-time victory over the pirates, all of which have been sweeps.

Like against SBU, Cleary and Steele were the first to finish up at Flight No. 2 against Grecia Ung and Aly Anderson in what was a rematch of the pairings from Feb. 22. The Bears pairing allowed one fewer point in the rematch with a 21-9, 21-18 straight set victory. Cleary and Steele improved their season record to 13-3. Their 33 career wins as a pair are just two shy of the program record held by Grace Cook and Chloe Tome.

Cepicky and Niemeyer took on two different opponents from the early-season matchup, this time seeing Luna Martins and Mafalda Bras on the other side of the net. The result was about the same as the Bears pairing improved their team-best record to 15-1 and moved their winning streak to five with a 21-15, 21-18 win.

Rattler and Eschleman again claimed the clinching point at Flight No. 5 in front of friends and family. The duo took on fellow senior honorees Patricia Carrio Ubeda and Carla Pons Sales, who were at No. 4 when the teams last played. Rattle and Eschleman had nearly identical set victories, 21-13, 21-12, growing their active team-high winning streak to six matches and their record as a pair to 12-2.

At Flight No. 1, Bach and Larkin had a smoother time against Bailey Turner and Izabella Ceratti. The Bears allowed just 19 points across the two sets to win, 21-9, 21-10 to improve to 14-3. Bach joined Rattler as the only Bears to reach 50 career wins in program history. Larkin improved her career record to 39-9, tying her for the eighth-most wins in Missouri State history.

Finally, Schrandt and Sprague secured the second match sweep of the day at Flight No. 3 with a 21-12, 21-11 win over Daniela Gomez and Angelina Rodriguez to improve to 13-4 on the year.

Missouri State increased its home winning streak to 26 matches dating back to 2023. This year's installment of the Bears swept all 11 of its home matches this season.

"We're more motivated than ever to push through the next three weeks and make this the best season yet for such an amazing group of players," Emery said.

The Bears will end the season with three weekend road tournaments, including the Conference USA Tournament in late April. MoState will start its road trip next weekend at the Blazer Beach Bash hosted by fellow CUSA team Alabama-Birmingham on April 11-12.