AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Missouri Volleyball team (13-7, 5-4 SEC) picked up an upset road sweep (25-23, 25-21, 25-18) of #23 Auburn (14-5, 4-4 SEC) Friday evening at Neville Arena.
The win marked Mizzou's third-straight SEC win and first road win over a ranked SEC opponent since Oct. 21, 2018, at then #11-ranked Florida (3-2 win).
The sweep was also Missouri's second in the past three matches.
Jordan Iliff paced the Tigers with 13 kills and eight digs while hitting .357 with two blocks and two aces.
Janet deMarrais added 11 kills to go with six digs and three blocks to extend her double-digit kill streak to 10 matches (11 in 2023).
Morgan Isenberg finished with eight kills (.727), three blocks and two digs while Colleen Finney chipped in five kills (.364) and three blocks.
Freshman setter Sierra Dudley handed out 31 assists with a trio of digs.
Libero Maya Sands grabbed 12 digs with three assists and an ace.
FIRST SET (25-23 Mizzou, Mizzou leads 1-0)
Missouri jumped out to a 9-5 lead after an Iliff ace, a Dilara Gedikoglu kill and then a Finney rally stopper to prompt an Auburn timeout.
Out of the stoppage, Gedikoglu added another kill to extend the margin to 10-5 after a 5-0 run.
The Auburn Tigers then pulled within two (10-8) after a 3-0 spurt.
Consecutive Iliff and Isenberg block then pushed the Mizzou edge to 15-10. Iliff added a kill to make to score 17-11.
Auburn trimmed the Mizzou lead to 19-18 after a 5-0 rally.
Naomi Franco then blasted a kill off an assist from Sarah White to make the Mizzou advantage 22-19.
A deMarrais termination brought on set point (24-20) that Auburn would fight off with three consecutive points (24-23).
Mizzou then called a timeout after the home Tigers whittled the lead to one before an Iliff kill secured the opening frame.
The St. Louis, native, tallied five kills during the first set Friday on a .625 hitting clip. Gedikoglu added a trio of kills.
SECOND SET (25-21 Mizzou, Mizzou leads 2-0)
The Tigers then utilized a balanced attack to increase their lead in the match to 2-0. Isenberg led the way with five kills (.833) while Finney (.500), Iliff and deMarrais each added three.
Mizzou commenced the second stanza with a 6-3 lead that evaporated after a 4-0 Auburn run (7-6 Auburn).
Isenberg knocked a kill to even the frame at 11-11 before Auburn took a 15-13 lead into the media timeout.
The home Tigers added two more points to push the margin to 17-13 and bring on a Mizzou timeout.
Missouri then rattled off three-straight points capped by a Lauren Forbes ace to trim the deficit to 18-16.
Another 3-0 run from Mizzou then knotted the set at 19-19 to prompt an Auburn timeout.
The Tigers then went up 21-20 after an Iliff kill coupled with an Auburn miscue.
Gedikoglu registered an ace (22-20, 3-0 Missouri run) before Mizzou claimed the frame on a 3-0 run (25-21).
Missouri wrapped the second set on a 12-3 run with four 3-0 rallies down the stretch.
THIRD SET (25-18 Mizzou, Mizzou wins 3-0)
The Missouri Tigers went on a 3-0 run for an early 11-8 lead in set #3. deMarrais and Finney combined for a block assist before a deMarrais kill and then an Auburn attacking error.
Auburn then took a timeout before Sands posted an ace coupled with another deMarrais kill made the Mizzou lead 13-8 and extended the rally to 5-0.
deMarrais and Isenberg (2) then connected on consecutive kills for a 17-11 Mizzou edge.
Iliff slammed a rally stopper before placing an ace to make the score 20-13.
Auburn would come as close as 22-16 before deMarrais secured the match with a kill (25-18).
The Colleyville, Texas, sophomore, had six kills in the third set Friday while Iliff added five. Both deMarrais and Iliff hit .333 in the final frame Friday.
Mizzou hit .243 in the third set to finish the match with a team hitting percentage of .216.
MATCH NOTES
- Jordan Iliff paced the Tigers with 13 kills and eight digs while hitting .357 with two blocks and two aces.
- Jordan Iliff has now finished in double-digits attacking in six-straight matches. She has totaled 10 or more kills in 15 matches this season.
- Janet deMarrais added 11 kills to go with six digs and three blocks to extend her double-digit kill streak to 10 matches (11 in 2023).
- Janet deMarrais has now registered six or more digs in eight-straight matches.
- Morgan Isenberg finished with eight kills (.727), three blocks and two digs Friday.
- Colleen Finney chipped in five kills (.364) and three blocks.
- Colleen Finney is now three kills away from 500 in her collegiate career (408 at Clemson).
- Freshman setter Sierra Dudley handed out 31 assists with a trio of digs and a kill.
- Libero Maya Sands grabbed 12 digs with three assists and an ace.
- Dilara Gedikoglu finished Friday with nine digs, four kills, three assists, two aces and a block.
- Naomi Franco tallied a kill and is now two kills away from 500 in her career (479 at Syracuse).
- Mizzou led in every statistical category except blocks. Missouri held a 6-2 advantage in aces Friday.
- The win marked Mizzou's third-straight SEC win and first road win over a ranked SEC opponent since Oct. 21, 2018, at then #11-ranked Florida (3-2 win).
- Friday's sweep was also Missouri's second in the past three matches.
LOOKING AHEAD
- Mizzou next returns home to take on #12 Tennessee at the Hearnes Center on Wednesday, October 25, in the Tigers' Volleween match. First serve is set for 7 p.m., CT.
- Fans can participate in pre-match trick-or-treating, costume contest and can receive Mizzou's Volleween limited edition poster. Following the match, the 2023 Missouri team will be signing autographs.
- The match will be streamed on SEC Network.
- Following that contest, Missouri will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, for a rematch against Ole Miss on Sunday, October 29.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
