Springfield Standard

Missouri State University’s volleyball team will play its final home matches of the season against Liberty University on Friday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. Both matches will take place at Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Missouri.

Liberty is making its first visit to Springfield for these games. With four matches left in the regular season, Liberty holds a record of 18-7 overall and 6-6 in Conference USA (CUSA), while Missouri State stands at 10-13 overall and 5-7 in conference play. The two teams are currently ranked sixth and seventh in the CUSA standings as they compete for spots in the eight-team league tournament.

Missouri State’s roster this year features seven freshmen and six sophomores among its 18 players. All seven Missouri natives on the team come from within a 75-mile radius of campus.

Freshmen have contributed significantly to the Bears’ offense, accounting for 45 percent of kills this season. Peyton McKee has recorded 222 kills with an average of 2.92 per set and earned CUSA Freshman of the Week honors on September 8. Hannah Gardner has tallied 143 kills, 357 assists, and 174 digs, becoming the only freshman in school history to register two triple-doubles in a season; she was named CUSA Freshman of the Week on October 20.

Defensively, Missouri State ranks fourth in CUSA and eighty-sixth nationally with an average of 2.36 blocks per set. Lizanyela Lopez is second in the league with an average of 1.23 blocks per set and leads CUSA with a total of 103 blocks this season. Grace Smith ranks fifth individually with an average of 1.13 blocks per set; both Lopez and Smith have each recorded a match with eleven blocks this year.

The Bears also lead Conference USA with an average of 14.50 digs per set this season, continuing their strong defensive tradition after ranking among the top thirty-two teams nationally for total digs in four out of the last five seasons.

Missouri State has consistently posted high ace averages since adopting the current scoring system, achieving at least 1.24 aces per set each season under head coach Steven McRoberts, including a rate of 1.42 so far this year.

This season marks Missouri State’s first year competing in Conference USA after spending thirty-three seasons as part of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), where they achieved a .652 winning percentage during their tenure.

Head coach Steven McRoberts is now in his sixth season leading Missouri State and his twenty-ninth overall as a collegiate head coach, amassing six hundred sixty-seven career victories—ninth among active Division I coaches nationwide.

“Coach Mac is no stranger to Conference USA, with a forty-nine-and-thirteen career record in league matches,” according to information provided by Missouri State Athletics staff. “As Tulsa's head coach from two thousand eleven to thirteen, McRoberts won two regular season titles, one tournament championship and the two thousand eleven CUSA Coach of the Year award.”

First-year assistant coach Lori Endicott-Vandersnick brings Olympic experience to Missouri State’s staff; she helped Team USA win bronze at the nineteen ninety-two Barcelona Olympics and was recognized as best setter at those Games.