AUBURN, Ala. – It was a gritty, back-and-forth battle broke out Sunday afternoon at Auburn Arena as Auburn volleyball (11-7, 3-5 SEC) took Missouri (4-16, 1-6 SEC) to the brink forcing five sets, but Mizzou held on the edge out a 3-2 (25-27, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 11-15) victory.
For the seventh time this season, Rebekah Rath recorded at least 20 kills in a match as she led the Tigers with 22. The junior committed just five errors in 71 total attempts to total a .239 hitting percentage.
Rath closed Sunday's match with two assists, matching her season high, one ace and three total blocks. Rath also recorded 12 digs to secure her seventh double-double of the season. Rath is now just 12 kills from moving into 10th place on Auburn single-season kills performances in the rally-scoring era.
In her best offense performance in conference play this season, Val Green closed the match with 16 kills for her seventh double-digit kill performance of the season. Green added one assist, one block and two digs for the Tigers.
Liz Reich also finished the match with double-digit kills, totaling 10. The graduated student attacked at a .258 clip, committing just two errors in her 31 attempts. Reich picked up a pair of digs and one block. Senior Elif Yavuz hammered home six kills in the match, a career high in conference action.
Sophomore Jackie Barrett started the match at setter. Barrett dished out 12 assists, while adding two blocks, three digs and one kill before being lifted in the second set.
Freshman Jordan Sinness closed out the match at setter for the Tigers, picking up a career high 35 assists. Sinness recorded her first collegiate double-double with help of a career high 14 digs. She also added two blocks and a kill.
In another impressive defensive before, libero Bella Rosenthall racked up career-high 33 digs for her third 30+ digs match of her senior season. Her 33 digs are tied for the sixth most ever recorded in a single match. Offensively, Rosenthall added eight assists.
The Tiger blocking effort put together another strong performance at the net with nine total blocks. Senior Tatum Shipes led Auburn with six total blocks as she continues to inch her way up the record book.
Shipes is now tied for fifth in single-season history with 17 solo blocks. Her 89 block assists move her into a tie for third in the program's single-season history. Shipes has totaled 106 blocks her senior season, the third most every recorded by a Tiger in the rally scoring era.
SET ONE
Four Missouri kills and a service ace put Auburn in a 5-1 hole early. Auburn continued to claw back using three straight kills from Barrett, Reich and Green to tie the set at 9-all. Following five ties, a Kaylee Cox's kill and Auburn attack error gave Missouri a 17-15 lead. Auburn once again battled back, taking advantage of Missouri errors to tie the set at 18-all. Missouri answered with two kills and a block to string together a 3-0 run. Auburn refused to roll over as a kill from Shipes and Tiger block tie the set late at 23-all. Facing a Missouri set point, Rath delivered a kill to keep the set alive before Green put the Tigers ahead, 25-24, with a kill. An Auburn service error wiped out the set point before back-to-back kills gave Missouri a 27-25 victory.
SET TWO
It was Auburn that jumped out early with a 4-1 advantage. Missouri would storm back with a 4-0 run, highlighted by three kills, to jump ahead 13-10. Auburn would answer with three kills from Rath and a Tiger block to tie the set at 14-all. The squads traded short runs before Auburn used kills from Yavuz and Green to take a 19-17 advantage. Auburn would find kills form Green, Reich and Rath late to push the lead to 23-20 before a pair of Missouri errors sealed the Auburn victory, 25-20.
SET THREE
Auburn struggled to find rhythm defensively as Missouri connected for five early kills to build a 9-4 advantage. Green spark an Auburn comeback with a kill and a block to cut the lead to 9-7. Missouri would hold on to its two-point lead until Auburn went on a 4-0 run with freshman Kate Curtis line. Rath and Shipes combined for three kills while Curtis added an ace to put Auburn in front 15-13. After trading blows, Missouri went on a 3-0 run to take a late lead, 18-17. Would force a pair of ties, before two Missouri kills gave the Mizzou Tigers a 22-20 advantage. Auburn would tie the set at 22-all, an error kill from Anna Dixon forced set point. Rath delivered a kill to fight off set point, but Dixon responded with a kill of her own to secure a 25-23 Missouri victory
SET FOUR
Neither team was able to find much of an advantage in the early point until costly Missouri errors put Auburn up 8-6. Missouri answered to tie the set up at 8-all before Auburn once again took advantage of Mizzou errors followed by a kill from Yavuz to put Auburn back in front 11-8. Missouri delivered on three kills to tie the set up at 13-all before Auburn's offense clicked for a 6-0 run to jump ahead 19-13. Missouri cut the Tiger lead to two before back-to-back kill from Green gave Auburn the 22-18 advantage. Auburn used kills from Yavuz and Reich down the stretch to win 25-21 to force a fifth set.
SET FIVE
Missouri landed the first two points, but Auburn used a Rath-Shipes block and a kill from Rath to take a 3-2 advantage. With the set tied at 5-all, four Missouri kills put the Tigers in front 9-6. Auburn cut the lead to one with kills from Rath and Green, before a 3-1 run highlighted from back-to-back Missouri kills extend the Mizzou lead to 12-9. Missouri would used three kills down the stretch to win the set 15-11.
UP NEXT
Auburn hits the road for a two-match series in Athens, Ga., against the Bulldogs. Due to expected widespread internet outage on Georgia's campus, the series has been moved to Thursday and Friday. First serve for both matches is set for 6 p.m. CT and will air on SEC Network+.