Oct. 7, 2016
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AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn volleyball team fell to Missouri, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-15), Friday night in Auburn Arena. The loss moved the Tigers to 8-10 overall and 2-3 in Southeastern Conference play.
"Our passing and mentality coming out wasn't there tonight and we need to take responsibility for that," head coach Rick Nold said. "We knew we needed to get after Missouri right away and when we did that, we were right there and in position to win sets. However, Missouri is a good team and we weren't at our best."
Freshman Gwyn Jones had 11 kills for Auburn, while classmate Enija Bidzane chipped in eight with a career-high seven digs and three service aces. Junior setter Alexa Filley picked up a double-double with 26 assists and 15 digs and libero Jesse Earl finished with 12 digs.
Melanie Crow led Missouri (14-3, 5-0) with 11 kills and 10 digs. Libero Alexa Ethridge finished with 13 digs and setter Courtney Eckenrode had 33 assists.
Mizzou used long runs to take a 11-6 advantage in set one. Back-to-back Auburn blocks brought the home Tigers within two at 11-9 before MU capitalized on Auburn errors to push a 16-10 lead. AU chipped away at the Mizzou lead and used a 4-0 run to tie it up at 20, but the visitors closed out the set with a 25-22 victory.
The second set had the teams go back and forth until a kill from Filley and a pair of service aces by Bidzane lifted Auburn to a 13-11 lead. Mizzou regrouped and pushed a long run to go up 20-15 and held off a late Auburn rally to win, 25-21.
Missouri came out of intermission with momentum and took a quick 8-4 advantage. Another long run put the visitors ahead 16-7 and the away Tigers took the match with a 25-15 win.
Auburn returns to Auburn Arena Sunday, Oct. 9, for a 1:30 p.m. match vs. rival Alabama. The match is the team's All Auburn, All Orange event and fans are encouraged to wear orange. Auburn students are welcome to have "Burgers with Basketball" prior to first serve as the men's basketball team will be outside the arena, serving hot dogs and burgers.