NCAA Volleyball Tournament: Auburn Tigers Volleyball Team Sweeps Missouri State
Lincoln - First-round play of the NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament kicked off at the NU Coliseum on Thursday with a match between the Auburn Tigers (21-12) and the Missouri St. Bears (21-10). The Tigers swept the Bears in three hard-fought sets, 25-15, 26-24, 27-25, to secure their first-ever NCAA tournament victory.
Auburn, who was making its first NCAA appearance, was led by in hitting by Sarah Bullock’s 12 kills, while Morgan Johns added another 10. The Tigers’ Christina Solverson and Chelsea Wintzinger combined for 38 assists, while Liz Crouch tallied 18 digs to lead Auburn.
Calli Norman paced the Bears with eight kills, while Carly Thomas added 21 assists. Cara Hackmann and Abby Padlock combined to lead Missouri St. with 23 digs.
In the first set, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead, scoring four consecutive points to put the score at 7-3. Auburn didn’t look back after that and took set one with a score of 25-15.
The second set featured much closer play between the two teams as the Bears jumped to an early 6-2 advantage, but the Tigers battled back to even the score at ten a piece. From there, the match featured seven ties, including a 24-24 count late in the set. Auburn was able to clinch the second set after a service error and an attack error by the Bears put the final score at 26-24.
The third set began with the Tigers racing to a strong 9-3 start, but Missouri St. capitalized on several Auburn errors to take the lead at 13-10 midway through the set. From there, the match was characterized by multiple lead changes as the teams traded points. With the match tied up at 25, Johns put down a kill to put Auburn in the lead. An attack error by Missouri St. clinched the match for the Tigers, 27-25.
With the loss, Missouri will finish their season with a record of 21-10. This year’s NCAA at-large bid marked the Bears’ sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight years.
The Tigers advance to the second round of the tournament, where they will face the winner of tonight’s match between second-seeded Nebraska and Sacred Heart. The second round match is slated to begin on Friday, Dec. 3, at 7 pm. CST. The winner of that match will advance to the Seattle, Wash. Regional which will start on Dec. 10.
