AUBURN, Ala. – Alex Irvine posted the meet’s top score and Julianne Huff won her fourth all-around title of the season, helping No. 15 Auburn score 196.7 Friday on Senior Night at Neville Arena.
No. 7 Missouri earned the road victory in the regular season finale, scoring 197.325.
“Good approach at the end. You’re seeing a team that’s putting a little too much pressure on themselves. They feel some doubt, especially bars,” Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. “The last two events were a pretty good representation of where we are. We’ve just got to eliminate some mistakes.”
Competing in the all-around for the tenth time this season, the dependable Huff scored a 39.25 to earn the victory.
Opening on vault, Auburn stacked scores throughout the lineup, leading off with 9.8s from Olivia Greaves and Mia Leverton, followed by 9.85s from Marissa Neal and Huff.
Sticking the landing on her one-of-a-kind vault, Paige Zancan earned Auburn’s top score, a 9.9, to share the event title with Missouri’s Hannah Horton.
Missouri tallied two 9.9s and a 9.925 on bars to lead 49.425-49.2 heading to the second rotation.
Alex Irvine anchored bars for Auburn, equaling her career high with a 9.95, the highest score of the night for either team.
“I knew coming into this meet that I had to rev it back up again,” Irvine said. “Attack the same way I do in practice. It hasn’t done me wrong yet. It felt good seeing the score.”
After a fall in the third spot, the Tigers responded well with a 9.875 from Greaves, tying her season high, and a 9.8 from Emma Grace Boyd. Huff led off with a 9.8 and Charlotte Booth followed with a 9.725 for a 49.15 bars score.
Missouri scored 49.325 on vault to lead 98.75-98.35 at the meet’s midpoint.
Irvine excelled again on beam, leading Auburn with a 9.9 to share the event title.
“She’s so mentally tough,” Graba said of Irvine, whose event load has steadily increased in her two seasons on the Plains. “She’s really on her game. She’s enjoying the process right now.”
Olivia Ahern led off beam with a 9.875, a score Huff matched in the third spot. Auburn’s sole senior, Hannah Hagle contributed a 9.75 and Neal added a 9.65 to give the home Tigers a 49.05 on beam and a 147.4 through three rotations.
Missouri scored 49.3 on floor, highlighted by 9.9s from Horton and Kennedy Griffin.
Finishing on floor, Auburn matched Missouri’s 49.3 on the strength of Neal’s 9.925, her third floor event title of the season and eighth overall.
“Her landings are great,” Graba said of Neal. “She’s healthy. This is what she’s capable of. Really impressed with Marissa.”
Greaves anchored with a 9.875, Ahern earned a 9.85 in the middle of the lineup after Irvine and Bryn Bartman led off with 9.825s.
Missouri closed the meet with a 49.275 on beam to conclude the meet with a 197.325.
With the regular season complete, Auburn will head to the SEC Championships next Saturday, March 21, at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“It’s a good way to wrap up a regular season,” Graba said. “We’ve had some really good runs and gotten close to putting all four events together. We need to do that at SECs because the very next meet, it’s all or nothing. At some point you’ve got to eliminate doubt and go play the game.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer