AUBURN, Ala. – Nothing seemed to go Auburn's way on Friday evening. Despite 10 kills apiece from both Madison Scheer and Akasha Anderson, the No. 23 Tigers (14-5, 4-4) fell to Missouri (13-7, 5-4) in three sets (25-23, 25-21, 25-18).
Scheer led the way in the opening frame, slamming home five kills on eight swings for .375 hitting. Meanwhile, Bella Bell returned to the court for the first time since facing Arkansas last month. The South Carolina native added two big blocks and four kills.
Trouble with serve-receive, however, put the Orange and Blue and an early hole. Trailing 14-19, the ever-resilient Tigers began the climb out with Jackie Barrett at the service line. Sophomore Bel Zimmerman added her patented scoring run late as well to bring her team as close as 23-24. Missouri closed off the set, though, taking the early advantage.
Barrett would notch her 10th double-double of 2023 with 27 assists and 10 digs.
Set two featured more for Scheer as well as a heavy dose of Anderson. Auburn's block came alive as they led 18-13. Scheer wound up with two rejections, Kyla Swanson added a pair for herself, as did Kendal Kemp. In total, Auburn piled up five total team blocks.
Heavy serving from the away side put the Orange and Blue in trouble once more. A couple of scoring runs and a few aces were enough for Missouri to complete the comeback, taking a two-set to nil advantage.
Down key back row players, Auburn struggled to find answers receiving Missouri serves. Unforced errors led to just .037 hitting for the Tigers. On the other side of the net, Missouri hit for .243 in the final set, coming up with two aces and another pair of blocks.
When the dust settled, it was just too much to overcome for Auburn as the Orange and Blue dropped just its fifth match of the season.
MATCH NOTES
- Madison Scheer (10 kills) reached double digits for the 14th match this season
- Sarah Morton (11 digs) reached double digits for the 10th time in 2023
- Akasha Anderson (10 kills) reached double digits for the 14th match this season
- Jackie Barrett (27 assists, 10 digs) grabbed her 10th double-double of the year
- Kyla Swanson's seven blocks were the second-most for her this season
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"Frustrating loss obviously. We are missing two of our best passers in Fallan [Lanham] and Zoe [Slaughter] and that showed up quite a bit tonight. We could not handle their serves very well. We're trying to get Bella Bell back into the lineup. She was really good in the first set but she's just not at 100 percent yet. She hasn't had enough practice time. In order to win, you have to win the serve and pass battle. They were in system 60 percent of the time, above where they normally pass. We need to serve tougher. And we couldn't handle their serves. When those two things happen, you're in trouble.
"I was disappointed. I thought we didn't play with a lot of energy and I thought it looked like that. We don't want to make excuses. We need to compete better than that. Having said that, we also need to get healthy. That's going to help."
UP NEXT
The Tigers are back in Neville Arena on Sunday, Oct. 22 for a date with South Carolina at 1 p.m. CT. Sunday is also Disney Day on the Plains. The first 250 kids in the building receive a free Disney-themed key chain.