Auburn returned home on Friday night after three straight road games to take on the Tigers of Missouri. Auburn, 2-2 in the SEC, looked to use the momentum from a win over Georgia last weekend but it wasn't enough as they were swept by Missouri.
Missouri had come into this game on an 8 game win streak, the last five all being sweeps, and undefeated in SEC play. Auburn came into the game with an aggressive game plan but weren't able to keep up the energy throughout the entire match.
“We needed to get after them,” said head coach Rick Nold. “That is something that when we did that, I didn't think we played our best early, but when we were putting pressure on them we were in a good position those games. They’re a good team and if you’re going to spot them points with [bad] passing that is going to be tough to come back from.”
Auburn came into the game with multiple injuries including, Stephanie Campbell, Emily Klitzke, and Brenna McIlroy but Coach Nold isn't allowing that to be an excuse for this team.
“This one obviously we want to have all of our guns out there but it has been one of those years,” Nold said. “At the same time that didn’t, in my mind, have an impact on our passing and our mentality coming out. I think that was the difference for us. We’ve got to take responsibility for that and the changes in the lineup shouldn't affect the way we compete.”
Auburn freshman Gwyn Jones lead the Tigers with 11 kills followed by fellow freshman Enja Bidzane with 8 kills. Defensively, Alexa Filley lead the team in digs with 15 followed by Jesse Earl.
The Tigers fall to 8-10 on the season 2-3 in the SEC with a big match against Alabama looming. That match is set to tip off at 1:30 CST in Auburn Arena,
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