It just wasn't their day.

The No. 10-ranked Bees saw their season come to an end in a 3-0 loss to Saint Xavier in the championship match of the CCAC Tournament Saturday afternoon inside Lee Lohman Arena.

St. Ambrose, looking to add the tournament championship to its regular-season title, never found its footing in the 25-21, 25-23, 29-27 loss.

The Bees never led in the opening set and trailed throughout much of the second. Finally, down 18-15, SAU found some momentum. A Zach Schmidt kill was followed by a Scott MacGillis block. MacGillis then put down a kill to tie the set at 18-18. The run continued as a Saint Xavier hitting error and a block from Schmidt and Jake Snyder gave the Bees a 20-18 lead.

St. Ambrose maintained leads of 21-20 and 22-21 before the Cougars rallied to take four of the final five points for a 2-0 lead.

The third set had a similar start. SAU trailed 12-6 before mounting a comeback. The Bees tied the set at 15-15 and ultimately pulled ahead 19-17. An Avery Clark kill kept the lead at two points at 20-18. After watching SXU win three consecutive points, SAU won three straight of its own on a kill from Jaylen Clark, an ace from Adam Campbell and a block from Jaylen Clark and Snyder for a 23-21 advantage.

The Cougars responded with another three-point spurt and from there, the teams traded points. St. Ambrose fought off four match points, the last time coming to tie the set at 27-27. But back-to-back kills ended any comeback hopes.

Jaylen Clark led the Bees with 10 kills. Schmidt had eight and MacGillis added six. Campbell (19) and Snyder (11) combined for 30 of the team's 36 assists. Avery Clark picked up a team-best eight digs.

By winning the conference tournament, Saint Xavier (20-7) earns the league's automatic bid to the 2019 NAIA National Tournament, held in Des Moines, Iowa, April 16-20.

SAU ends the year 15-10 overall.