AUBURN, Ala. The Auburn Tigers (14-5, 4-4) hosted the Missouri Tigers (13-7, 5-4) in a big matchup that had massive implications on not only the SEC standings but possible NCAA tournament resumes.
The defense for the home team was the only aspect of the game for the Tigers that seemed to be firing at least close to fully functioning in an otherwise ugly matchup in which the home Tigers were swept by the visitors in straight sets falling to 4-4 in SEC play and 14-5 overall.
Auburn came out slow and despite the Tiger's defense at times showing flashes that could potentially keep them in the game overall they could not quite find the edge they needed to get in a groove and manufacture a comeback.
The Tigers lost the first points of the game and did not play a point with the lead until the second set. Despite the talent that this team has shown consistently this season, a slow start and low energy, in combination with some key injuries seemed to plague the Tigers tonight, head coach Brent Crouch was disappointed in the loss and these facts were not lost on him.
“I was disappointed," Crouch said. "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.”
Auburn had a few individuals step up and have great performances despite the loss, perhaps none more so than Kyla Swanson who paired her fantastic .400 hit rate with six block assists, while also being the only player on the team to record a solo block. It is also worth mentioning the return of Bella Bell, a star player for Auburn, returning to the lineup. Bell stood tall the first set, finished with a respectable two blocks and four kills.
“We’re trying to get Bella Bell back into the lineup," Crouch said. "She was really good in the first set but she’s just not at 100 percent yet.”
The visiting Tigers took an early first-set lead and hardly relinquished it throughout the whole game. Missouri wasn’t without their stars either as Jordan Iliff had a huge game for the winning side leading the game in kills while also finishing third on her squad in hitting percentage.
Crouch and Auburn will have a short turnaround to fix issues and get healthy as they continue the weekend at home when the Gamecocks of South Carolina visit to cap off the weekend with a 1 p.m. first serve at Neville Arena with streaming on SECN+.
