St. Ambrose loses twice at home Tri-Match
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#2 Saint Xavier (IL) (15-0, 6-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (11-10, 4-2) | 17 | 21 | 13 | 0 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clarke (IA) (3-17) | 21 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 15 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (11-11) | 25 | 13 | 20 | 26 | 12 | 2 |
St. Ambrose dropped a pair of matches at its own Tri-Match Saturday. The Bees fell to No. 2 Saint Xavier 3-0 before falling to Clarke 3-2.
To start the day, the Bees fell to unbeaten and CCAC-leading Saint Xavier.
Despite staying close for much of the first two sets, SAU could not overcome several big runs from the No. 2-ranked team in the NAIA in the 25-17, 25-21, 25-13 loss.
St. Ambrose (12-10) finished with 20 total kills against 18 hitting errors. The team also collected just one ace while commiting 13 service errors.
Pedro Zang led the Bees with seven kills. Michael Bos had six, Charlie Flynn three and Anthony Anderson two. Cael Anderson and Kam Dixon each put down one kill.
Anthony Anderson (nine), Ethan Karban (four) and Felipe Prieto (three) combined for all 16 of the team's assists. Karban had a Bee-best six digs. Cael Anderson, Anthony Anderson and Prieto picked up two apiece. Bos was in on six of SAU's blocks.
A rally came up short in a 21-25, 25-13, 25-20, 24-26, 15-12 loss to Clarke.
Kills from Bos and Prieto broke a 24-24 fourth-set tie to push the match to a fifth set. But the Pride came out strong in the final set, winning four of the first five points.
Clarke extended its lead to 10-5 before St. Ambrose rallied. A kill from Cael Anderson, a block from Dixon, Prieto and Bos, and two straight aces from Kainalu Ka'ahanui pulled the Bees to with 10-9.
But SAU would get no closer. The Pride won three of the next four points to go in front 13-10. And the teams exchanged points from there with Clarke ultimately closing out the match.
Dixon and Cael Anderson led the Bees with 11 kills each. Bos put down 10. Zang and Zander Larson each had six and Flynn added five. Ka'ahanui, Chase Cline, Prieto, Anthony Anderson and Conner Rogalski also had kills.
Prieto had a team-high 28 assists with Anthony Anderson (12) and Matt Cannon (10) also reaching double figures. Karban came up with 11 digs and Ka'ahanui picked up seven.
St. Ambrose will return to conference play Thursday with a match at Viterbo.