After more than a week off, St. Ambrose dropped its hard-fought conference opener at CCAC power Saint Xavier in four sets Tuesday night.

The Bees fell 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21 to move to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Down two sets and 21-20 in the third, SAU rallied. A Cougar serving error tied the set at 21-21 and was followed by consecutive kills from Abby Happ, Madisyn Johnson and Allie Brent. Riley Hummert extended the match with one of her four aces.

An ace from Brent and a Johnson kill came as part of a 4-0 run that gave the Bees an 18-14 lead in the fourth. But after taking a 19-15 lead on a Happ kill, St. Ambrose watched Saint Xavier (4-2, 1-0 CCAC) reel off seven straight points to grab a 22-19 lead. SAU got no closer than two points the rest of the way.

Happ (16 kills, 10 digs) and Hummert (12 kills, 16 assists) combined for 28 of the team's 46 kills. Johnson finished with six kills and Brent added five. Jessica Hemm put down three kills.

Morgan Twing registered a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs. Jenna Laxton was the fourth Bee with double-digit digs, picking up a match-high 22.

SAU will play its first home match of the year Thursday when the Bees host CCAC rival Cardinal Stritch. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. inside Lee Lohman Arena.