COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Auburn Tigers fell to the Missouri Tigers in straight sets Saturday night, capping off the regular season. The loss extends Auburn’s losing streak to 11 games, dating back to Oct. 16.
On a snowy evening in Columbia, both Tigers came out competing, trading points early in a tight start to set one. After being tied at nine apiece, the Missouri Tigers enjoyed a 5-0 run on their way to a dominating set-one win.
It was more of the same in the second frame, with both teams pacing alongside each other to the ten-point mark. Missouri once again pulled away, hitting an unstoppable .571 as they cruised to a 2-0 set lead. The rout continued into the final set and Auburn could do nothing to stop coach Dawn Sullivan’s attack. Her team led by as many as 10 in set three en route to the sweep.
The Missouri offense was clicking from start to finish, closing the evening with a .406 hitting percentage. Led by preseason All-SEC right side Jordan Iliff’s 14 kills on just 26 swings, the Tiger hitters were nearly impossible to defend.
Auburn, one of the best defensive teams in the conference, was held to one of its worst outputs on defense this season. They came in averaging 2.6 blocks per set, but were only able to muster two blocks throughout the entirety of the match. The .406 hitting mark from Missouri was also the second-highest Auburn has allowed during the campaign.
Madison Scheer was the lone Tiger in double-figures for kills, and the only Tiger to total more than six.
In an interesting switch, head coach Brent Crouch returned to the 6-2 formation after rolling out the 5-1 for the previous two matches. The 5-1 showed promise, with better play against Florida and Oklahoma, but ultimately wasn’t the difference in picking up a win. The switch back to the 6-2 proved to be only consolation as well. The search for the solution will have to continue into the offseason.
After one of the best starts to a season in program history, the train was derailed. While it looked like a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Crouch and company would be a sure thing, a brutal final stretch and a 4-12 conference record will likely keep the Tigers out of the big dance in 2024.
The Tigers will look to regroup and reload for the next season. They will lose the likes of Bella Bell, Chelsey McCurdy, Fallan Lanham and Paige Thibault, but will also return that freshman class from 2022 that brought the program to new heights. The trajectory has only been upward since bringing in Crouch, and Auburn will look to continue to build on what has been some of the brightest years in program history when the 2025 season rolls around.
