AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn wraps up its weekend at Missouri (8-8, 1-3 SEC) following a 3-0 loss at Vanderbilt on Friday. Missouri is coming off a straight-set loss of its own, falling to No. 5 Florida on Friday night.
Both teams sit at 1-3 in Southeastern Conference play entering the match, needing a victory to get back on track heading into the middle portion of the conference schedule.
ON THE AIR
- Sunday's match will be streamed on SEC Network+. Graham Doty (PxP) and Riley Rohler (analyst) will be on the call first serve set for 2 p.m. CT.
LAST TIME OUT
- Auburn dropped its Friday night match at Vanderbilt, 3-0. The Commodores' serve game was strong with 12 aces, 10 more than Auburn.
- Vanderbilt outscored Auburn 20-7 after the media timeout in the first and second sets combined.
- Anastasija Ivkovic recorded her third straight match hitting about .300 with seven kills and two errors on 16 attacks for a .312 efficiency.
- The Tigers out-blocked Vanderbilt eight to five.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Missouri is 1-3 to open SEC play, dropping three straight after winning its conference opener against Vanderbilt. Since the win over the Commodores, Missouri lost back-to-back road contests at Ole Miss (L, 1-3) and LSU (L, 2-3).
- The Tigers are coming off a straight-sets loss to #5 Florida on Friday.
- Missouri's non-conference schedule saw competitive losses to #25 Oregon, 3-1, and #5 Louisville, 3-1. As well as a 3-0 loss at #1 Nebraska.
- While the attack volume isn't Missouri's forte, the Tigers can hit efficiently, ranking 29th in DI with a .265 hitting percentage.
- Missouri ranks in the 100s in kills per set (185th, 12.34), aces (170th, 1.48), and blocks (101st, 2.23).
- Middle blocker Lauren Larkin leads Missouri with a .396 hitting percentage, the 34th best in the nation.
- Ainoah Cruz ranks 30th in DI with 4.55 digs per set.
- Right-side Grace O'Reilly is hitting .307 with 120 kills on 274 attacks this season.
SERIES HISTORY
- Missouri has taken 18 of the 21 all-time contests between Auburn and Missouri.
- Missouri has been victorious in the previous five meetings, with Auburn's last win over Missouri coming in a reverse-sweep in 2022 in Columbia, the only win for Auburn in Columbia.
- Last season's matchup in Auburn was a 3-1 win for Missouri. Auburn took the opening set over Missouri, but dropped a long second-set, 32-30, losing the momentum and the following two sets.
UP NEXT
- Auburn is on the road next week taking on both Texas programs. The Tigers will start the weekend at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 16 against the No. 9 Texas Longhorns. Auburn will then make the short trip to College Station from Austin to face No. 12 Texas A&M at noon CT on Sunday, Oct. 18.
—War Eagle—