Volleyball Downs #24 Auburn for Fourth-Straight Win

COLUMBIA, Mo – The University of Missouri Volleyball team (17-9, 9-6 SEC) captured a four-set win (25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-12) over #24 Auburn (18-7, 8-6 SEC) Sunday afternoon in front of a season-high crowd of 3,501 inside the Hearnes Center.

With the victory, Mizzou extended its win streak to four and surpassed its overall win total from 2020 (16-8, 15-7 SEC) when the Tigers last made an NCAA Tournament appearance. Missouri also earned the 2023 series sweep of Auburn. 

Mizzou was led by junior Jordan Iliff, completing her sixth double-double of the year with 18 kills and 10 digs. The St. Louis, native, also set a career-high with four aces and chipped in a pair of blocks.

Sophomore Janet deMarrais added another double-double (third in 2023), finishing with 15 kills and 11 digs. The Colleyville, Texas, native, also tied a career-best mark with three aces.

Freshman setter Sierra Dudley tallied 55 assists, her third straight 50-plus assist (fourth of season) match, helping Mizzou to a .356 team hitting percentage. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native also added three digs, a kill and an ace.

Another three Missouri players reached double figures in kills as Colleen Finney scored 11 kills on a stellar season-best .733 hitting percentage. The match marked her second 10-plus kill contest this season. She has registered seven or more kills in each of the last five matches.  

Junior Morgan Isenberg and graduate student Dilara Gedikoglu each put up 10 kills. Isenberg connected at a rate of .563 in her fourth double-digit kill match of the season. Gedikoglu notched her fourth consecutive double-digit kill performance Sunday. 

Sophomore Maya Sands led Mizzou defensively with 23 digs, her 14th 20-plus dig outing of the season. The libero also contributed three assists and an ace.

FIRST SET (Mizzou 25-19, Mizzou leads 1-0)

Missouri gained an early lead (6-4) Sunday by scoring four of the next six points with the set all square at 2-2. 

Auburn then rallied, scoring three of the next four to draw even at seven apiece.

From there, Missouri used a 4-0 run to push ahead, 11-7. The surge was aided by three Auburn errors, and a Gedikoglu ace.

The two sides would go back and forth until an Isenberg kill gave MU a 15-12 advantage at the media timeout.

Mizzou carried its momentum out of the break, continuing a 4-0 run (18-12) with a Lauren Forbes ace, to forces an Auburn timeout. Iliff and Gedikoglu also added terminations during the sequence. 

Auburn exited the timeout, grabbing three of the next four points to cut the Missouri lead to 19-15.

Mizzou responded with a 4-1 run (23-16), with Gedikoglu, Finney, Iliff, and deMarrais each registering a kill, to bring on Auburn’s second timeout.

Auburn answered by scoring three of the next four points, fighting off two Mizzou set points, before Iliff slammed a kill to clinch the first frame. 

Missouri hit .500 in the opening set paced by Iliff’s four kills (.800)

SECOND SET (Mizzou 25-23, Mizzou leads 2-0)

Trailing by one early, Mizzou embarked on a 5-0 run to capture an 8-4 lead and force a quick Auburn timeout. Four Tigers each registered a kill on the run with Isenberg, Gedikoglu, Finney and Iliff getting in on the action.

After swapping points out of the stoppage, Mizzou went on a three-point push to grow the lead to 13-7. Missouri scored on an Iliff kill, a Maya Sands ace followed by a deMarrais kill.

Auburn responded with three of four (14-10), before another Mizzou run created a larger lead, prompting Auburn’s second stoppage.

The Missouri run was ignited by deMarrais who clocked a kill before serving an ace. The 3-0 run (17-10) was capped by Iliff and Isenberg joining for a block.

Auburn scored four of the next five points out of the timeout to get back to within four (18-14).

Auburn then rattled off three straight, cutting Mizzou’s lead to 21-18 and forcing a timeout.

Missouri then utilized an Iliff kill to bring on set point (24-21). 

Auburn fought off a pair of Mizzou chances, but it was Iliff again with the clincher in the second.

She had five kills (.364) in the second stanza while deMarrais led the team with six (.364). 

THIRD SET (Auburn 25-23, Mizzou leads 2-1)

The third was a tightly contested battle, with neither side getting a lead of more than two before the media timeout. Mizzou scored four of six points entering the media timeout to take a 15-14 advantage into the break.

Auburn utilized a 5-0 run to climb ahead, 22-18.

Mizzou answered this time, scoring five of the next six points out of the break to knot the set at 23-23. deMarrais had a trio of kills during the sequence. 

Two straight Auburn points then forced a fifth stanza in Columbia. 

Iliff and deMarrais each chipped in five kills during set #3. 

FOURTH SET (Mizzou 25-12, Mizzou wins 3-1)

Mizzou scored three straight to jump out to a 4-1 lead thanks to an Isenberg kill, a Dudley ace, and a block from Isenberg and Iliff.

Auburn would burn both its timeouts before the media stoppage. 

Iliff slammed a kill before three-straight aces for an 11-4 advantage. 

Mizzou added another 4-0 run to widen the gap. The rally was started with a kill from both Iliff and Isenberg, before deMarrais registered consecutive aces to provide Mizzou a 19-9 lead.

Missouri then finished the match with a 6-1 run featuring a pair of Gedikoglu kills, a termination by Finney and an Iliff ace to capture the match. 

Mizzou concluded the match hitting .440. Iliff had four kills in the final set while Finney, Gedikoglu and Isenberg each chipped in three. 

MATCH NOTES

• Junior Jordan Iliff led the way for Missouri with her sixth double-double of the season, putting up 18 kills and 10 digs, connecting at a rate of .441. Iliff extended her double-digit kill streak to 12 straight matches. It was also her 10th 15-plus kill match this season. 

• Jordan Iliff registered 18 kills in each of Mizzou matches this week. 

• Jordan Iliff added a career-best four aces to go with a pair of blocks Sunday. 
• Sophomore Janet deMarrais completed her third double-double of the year, compiling 15 kills and 11 digs. deMarrais extended her double-digit kill streak to 16 matches (17 double-digit kill matches in 2023).
• Janet deMarrais also tied a career-high three aces (four times in 2023). 
• Five Tigers reached double-digit kills in the match in Jordan Iliff (18), Janet deMarrais (15), Colleen Finney (11), Dilara Gedikoglu (10), and Morgan Isenberg (10).
• Maya Sands led the defense, picking up 23 digs, her 14th match with at least 20 this season, and her second straight 23-dig match.
• Graduate student Colleen Finney registered her second double-digit kill match of the season with 11 on a stellar season-best .733 hitting percentage. She has registered seven or more kills in each of the last five matches.  
• The .733 hitting percentage by Colleen Finney is the highest by a Tiger this season. Morgan Isenberg previously hit .727 in the initial meeting with Auburn on Oct. 20, 2023. 
• Junior Morgan Isenberg and graduate student Dilara Gedikoglu each put up 10 kills Sunday. Isenberg connected at a rate of .563 in her fourth double-digit kill match of the season. Gedikoglu notched her fourth consecutive double-digit kill performance Sunday. 
• Morgan Isenberg also had a pair of assists.
• Dilara Gedikoglu added nine digs, two assists, two aces and a block.
• Freshman setter Sierra Dudley tallied 55 assists, her third straight 50-plus assist (fourth of season) match this season, helping Mizzou to a .356 team hitting percentage. The Spartanburg, South Carolina, native also added three digs, a kill and an ace.
• With the performance, Sierra Dudley surpassed 1,000 assists in 2023 (1,006). She is the first Tigers setter to have 1,000 assists in a season since Andrea Fuentes in 2019 (1,306 assists).
• Missouri has now registered two ranked wins in 2023, both coming against Auburn. 
• With the victory, Mizzou extended its win streak to four and surpassed its overall win total from 2020 (16-8, 15-7 SEC) when the Tigers last made an NCAA Tournament appearance. 
• A season-best crowd of 3,501 was in attendance for the victory at the Hearnes Center. Mizzou has now surpassed 3,000 fans at four matches (all SEC contests) in 2023. The previous season high was 3,297 against Tennessee on Oct. 25. 
• Missouri also earned the 2023 series sweep of Auburn and has now swept the regular-season series with both Auburn and Texas A&M. 
• Missouri grew its all-time series lead over Auburn to 16-3.
• Missouri increased their all-time series lead over Auburn at Hearnes Center to 7-1. The victory is Mizzou’s second win over Auburn this season, with the first one coming on Oct. 20, 2023.

LOOKING AHEAD

•  Missouri completes its final homestand at the Hearnes Center, hosting #21 Florida on Friday, Nov. 17. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m., CT at the Hearnes Center. The action will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

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