SAU stumbles twice at GVU's Molten Invitational
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UC Merced (4-3) | 20 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (3-1) | 25 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ottawa (5-3) | 25 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (3-2) | 22 | 25 | 20 | 18 | 1 |
St. Ambrose suffered its first losses of the year at the Molten Invitational hosted by Grand View Friday and Saturday. The Bees fell to UC-Merced and No. 7 Ottawa (Kan.) to fall to 3-2 on the year.
SAU got off to a fast start in winning the first set in an eventual 20-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-19 loss to UC-Merced to begin play Friday.
After taking the 1-0 lead, St. Ambrose struggled throughout the second and third sets. The Bees pulled together and led in the early stages of the fourth. But leading 10-8, SAU allowed UC-Merced to run off four straight points, and the Bees would never lead again.
A Jaylen Clark block trimmed the deficit to 21-18 but the Bobcats responded with two straight points and closed out the win soon after.
Clark shared match-high honors with 12 kills in the loss. Levi Vermeulen had nine and Zach Schmidt finished with eight. Jason Bageanis added five.
Jake Snyder led the team with 32 assists and Scott MacGillis had a team-leading five digs.
Along with hitting .079 for the match (38 kills, 29 errors), the Bees were also hurt by 12 serving errors against just two aces.
Saturday, MacGillis was the lone Bee to finish with double-digit kills in the team's 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18 loss to No. 7-ranked Ottawa.
After claiming the second set to even the match at one set apiece, slow starts in the third and fourth sets proved costly for SAU. Ottawa took a 10-4 lead in the third and an 8-2 lead in the fourth.
In the third, a Logan Havens ace closed the gap to 14-12 before a 6-2 run restored a 20-14 lead for Ottawa. Snyder had a late block to bring St. Ambrose to within 22-19 but the Bees would just win one more point in the third. After falling behind 8-2 in the fourth, SAU got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Bees had a balanced attack behind MacGillis. Clark had eight kills, Schmidt finished with seven, Vermeulen added six and Bageanis collected five.
Snyder recorded 35 assists and Havens and Robby Hoffman each picked up six digs. Dylan Herridge had four of the team's 10 aces in the loss.
St. Ambrose is next scheduled to return to CCAC play with a match at Viterbo Tuesday.