Beach Volleyball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Phone:
- (417) 836-4136
Ashley Emery was named Missouri State’s head beach volleyball coach on July 15, 2022.
In her fourth season at Missouri State, Emery guided the Bears to one of the strongest campaigns in program history. Missouri State finished 24-6, recording the second-most victories in a season in program history behind only the 2024 team’s 26 wins. The Bears opened the year with a program-record 14 consecutive victories, finished 9-0 at home and went 3-0 against Conference USA opponents during the regular season.
Missouri State advanced to the second day of the CUSA Championship after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat FIU, 3-2, in the opening round. The victory marked the program’s first postseason win and its first victory over FIU. The Bears later battled No. 2 seed UAB and No. 4 seed South Florida before ending their tournament run.
Under Emery’s direction, MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary produced one of the most successful seasons by a pair in program history. The duo posted a 24-6 record, closed the season on a program-record 15-match winning streak and improved its career record together to 63-23. Steele became Missouri State’s all-time career wins leader with 76 victories, while Manuela Niemeyer concluded her career ranked second with 74 wins.
Cleary earned All-Conference USA Second-Team honors, while Raylee Stenzel was selected to the CUSA All-Freshman Team. Cleary and Steele also received the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top Flight Award after finishing the year with 24 victories at the top two flights.
In her third season at Missouri State, the Bears continued their strong showing from 2024 with another winning season. Missouri State went 18-10 and completed an undefeated home schedule. The Bears opened the year on a nine-match winning streak and went 8-0 across their two season-opening tournaments at Volleyball Beach Ozark.
Emery guided several longtime Bears toward the top of the program’s record book. By the end of the season, seven of the top 10 athletes in career victories were active players. Olivia Rattler became the first of four Bears to reach 50 career wins during the season and concluded her career as the program leader with 61 victories.
Emery also continued developing the pairing of Steele and Cleary, who became the program’s all-time leaders in wins by a pair with 37 victories across two seasons. In their second season as Conference USA affiliates, the Bears advanced to the second day of the CUSA Championship for the second consecutive year after sweeping Tarleton State in the opening round.
Emery helped Becca Bach become the first Missouri State athlete to earn All-Conference USA recognition with a second-team selection. She also recruited Rylie Cepicky and helped guide Cepicky and Niemeyer to 20 victories at Flight No. 4. Cepicky became the first Missouri State athlete named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team. Four Missouri State pairs earned the AVCA Top Flight Award, doubling the program’s total from the previous season.
Emery’s second season at Missouri State was the most successful campaign in the program’s first seven years, producing team records with 26 victories and 16 dual sweeps. The Bears opened the year with a then-program-record 10-match winning streak that included seven 5-0 victories.
Emery helped produce several record-setting performances throughout the lineup, particularly at Flight No. 5, where Brooke Plessner and Maddie Schrandt won a single-season program-record 27 matches. Plessner and Schrandt, along with Olivia Muriel and Erin Eschleman, earned the AVCA Top Flight Award.
The Bears won 247 of 358 sets for a .690 winning percentage and finished the season 26-7, including victories in 11 of their final 13 matches. During Missouri State’s first season as a Conference USA affiliate, the Bears won two CUSA Championship matches, including an elimination victory over UTEP, to advance to the second day of the tournament.
In her first season with the Bears, Emery posted the third-best record in program history at the time, finishing 9-13. Her young team opened the 2023 campaign with seven consecutive victories, including two wins over 2022 NCAA Tournament participant UT Martin.
Missouri State recorded four dual sweeps and won 120 sets during Emery’s first season. Under her leadership, freshman Riley Drew earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors after posting a 12-8 record and maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average.
A fixture in the Springfield volleyball community for several years, Emery spent the 2021 season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Missouri State indoor volleyball program. She previously spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Drury, helping the Panthers capture the first regular-season Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and make the first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in program history in 2018.
Emery coached two All-GLVC performers during her time at Drury and helped the Panthers improve from 12th to second in the conference in blocking.
She served as interim head coach at Missouri S&T during the 2017 season following five years as a high school coach in Oklahoma. Emery led Broken Arrow High School to three consecutive state tournament appearances from 2014 through 2016.
Before arriving at Broken Arrow, she guided Edison Preparatory School in Tulsa to the first two state tournament appearances in program history in 2012 and 2013. She was named the Green Country Coach of the Year in 2013.
A native of Osceola, Missouri, the former Ashley Jurgensmeyer competed collegiately at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar. She graduated in three years and concluded her career as the program’s all-time leader in kills, attack percentage and points. Emery earned All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association recognition during each of her three seasons with the Bearcats.
As a beach player, Emery competed on the Association of Volleyball Professionals AVPNext Tour from 2014 through 2016 and earned an A-level ranking.
She and her husband, former Missouri State football player Dr. Jared Emery, have three sons, Jameson, Everett and Lincoln.
4 seasons | 77-36 overall (.681), 3-2 CUSA (.600)
| Head coaching record | |||||
| Year | Record (Overall, Conf.) | Home Record | Away Record | Neutral Record | Tournament Finish |
| 2023 | 9-13, 0-0 CCSA | 8-1 | 1-1 | 0-11 | Contender's Bracket - First Round |
| 2024 | 26-7, 0-1 CUSA | 14-0 | 4-1 | 8-6 | Contender's Bracket - Third Round |
| 2025 | 18-10, 0-1 CUSA | 11-0 | 1-3 | 6-7 | Contender's Bracket - Third Round |
| 2026 | 24-6, 3-0 CUSA | 9-0 | 3-3 | 12-3 | Contender's Bracket - Third Round |
| Total | 77-36, 3-2 Conf. | 42-1 | 9-8 | 26-27 | -- |
