AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-21, 25-14, 21-25, 27-25) match to No. 25 Missouri Friday night in Auburn Arena. The loss moved the Tigers to 6-11 overall and 0-6 in Southeastern Conference play.
"I'm really encouraged by the turn around the team made in the third and fourth sets," head coach Rick Nold said. "We're improving every week and that is what is important right now."
Offensively, sophomore Tatum Shipes led with nine kills on the night. Freshman Lily Thomason tied a career best with eight kills, while sophomore Chesney McClellan finished with six. Setter Morgan Kull had a team-high 20 assists and chipped in a career-high five kills.
The Auburn blockers put up big numbers, setting a season high with 12 overall. Junior Jaeden Brown led the charge with a career-best seven, having three solo stuffs and four block assists. Senior Shaina White and McClellan had a hand on four each.
The Tiger backrow was led by sophomore libero Bella Rosenthall with a season-high 16 digs. Shipes added nine and junior Payton White finished with eight.
Missouri (11-4, 3-2) was led by Kylie Kuyava-Deberg with 18 kills, while Darian Hollingsworth-Santana added 15. Setter Andrea Fuentes led the match with 43 assists and libero Riley Sents finished with 16 digs.
The Tigers return to Auburn Arena Sunday, hosting Georgia at 12 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
SET ONE
Missouri opened up with a 4-2 lead to start the match, but big blocks from the home Tigers pushed AU up 10-9. MU responded with a five-point push for a 14-10 advantage and closed out the set on an 11-2 run to win, 25-12.
SET TWO
Mizzou errors lifted Auburn to a 5-2 advantage in the second, but the visitors once again regrouped and utilized big runs to go up 17-11. The MU lead was too much as the visiting Tigers took a two-set lead with a 25-14 win.
SET THREE
The two teams exchanged points to open the third, seeing Auburn jump ahead at 8-5. Mizzou came back to hold a slight 12-10 advantage before a kill from McClellan sent the home squad on a run to take a 15-13 lead. Kills from Kull and Thomason pushed AU up at 22-16 and a strike by Shipes gave Auburn the set, 25-21.
SET FOUR
The final stanza of the match was a back-and-forth affair, seeing 19 ties and six lead changes. A Brown/Shipes block pushed a three-point run for Auburn, forcing a Mizzou timeout at 11-9. Kills from Thomason and Brown late in the set made it 17-15, but the visitors responded to tie it up at 18-all. An ace by Kull gave Auburn the 23-22 advantage before MU pushed two big swings to earn match point, 24-23. AU held off two match points, but Mizzou captured the victory with a 27-25 win.