COLUMBIA, Mo. – Graduate middle blocker Kyla Swanson was once again on fire but it wasn't quite enough to outrun Missouri (17-9, 9-6) as Auburn (18-7, 8-6) fell, 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-12) on Sunday.
Sophomore outside hitter Madison Scheer was fired up to play in her home state. The Eureka native put down three kills early as the Tigers held serve with Missouri in the opening parts of the first set. Auburn's offense produced a more than respectable .290 hitting percentage.
It was the home side, though, whose back row defense combined with in-system offense produced a hitting percentage of an even .500 and allowed Missouri to take the first set and forced the Orange and Blue to play from behind.
Offensively, it was Kyla Swanson who joined Scheer as another potent attack for the Tigers. The Wahoo, Nebraska native found four kills on nine swings with no errors by the end of the second frame.
Trailing 21-15, Auburn's front row started to make a statement. Better serving led to a slower offense from Missouri and in turn, let Kendal Kemp, Jackie Barrett and Swanson go to work.
After putting up no blocks in the first, Auburn fired off three late in the set to draw within of Missouri. One last kill from the home side, however, closed out the set and the Tigers were down two.
As the serving improved, so did the scoreline for Auburn. Three of the Tigers' eight aces were dropped in the third set with the likes of Zoe Slaughter, Akasha Anderson and Paige Thibault doing the heavy lifting.
Swanson and Scheer combined for six kills in the frame as well, leading to Auburn's best offensive output of the afternoon, hitting well north of .300.
When all totaled, a 25-23 set win forced the match into a fourth.
Missouri was ready for the counterpunch, though. Despite Swanson tying her career-high with 10 kills on a season-best .526 hitting percentage, it wasn't quite enough to overcome an early hole.
Stout serving from the home side closed out the match, 3-1.
MATCH NOTES
- Madison Scheer (kills) reached double digits for the 19th match this season
- Sarah Morton's two aces were a season-high for the sophomore
- Zoe Slaughter's two aces matched a season-high
- Kyla Swanson (10 kills) tied her career-high, swinging for a season-best .526
CROUCH'S COMMENTS
"I thought the effort was there. We worked really hard but we didn't execute some things on defense that we wanted to, mostly blocking line on the hitters. They were just teeing off line on edges and they did a really nice job of that. I thought it was kind of the [Jordan] Iliff show for that team. She was by far the best player on the court. She hit over .400 and at the end was making those serves that are really difficult to handle, tailing right to left. It's hard to replicate that stuff in practice. It's tough and we could not handle it. I thought we battled hard, coming back halfway through the second and almost getting that set at the end there. But she just crushed us in the last set."
UP NEXT
Crouch and the Tigers head back out on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 15 for a date with Mississippi State in Starkville. Auburn will be back home for the final three matches of the season, beginning on Sunday, Nov. 19 when the team hosts LSU for Military Appreciation Day.