St. Ambrose slipped below .500 in conference play after a loss to CCAC-leading Trinity Christian Tuesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

The 25-21, 25-14, 25-22 loss dropped the Bees to 6-18 overall and 5-6 in league play.

Other than the second set, which saw the Trolls (15-7, 10-1 CCAC) race out to an early 14-7 lead, SAU stayed close to Trinity Christian.

Consecutive kills from Jill Kavalauskas, Brea Cunningham and two from Jenny Koerner gave St. Ambrose a fast 7-3 lead in the opening set. The Bees kept pace throughout the set and knotted the score at 20-20 late. After TCC built a 22-20 lead, a Kavalauskas kill trimmed the deficit to a single point. But SAU would not score again as the Trolls took the first set.

Down 2-0, St. Ambrose led throughout much of the final set.

The Bees led by as many as three points on four separate occasions in the third, the last time coming at 20-17. A Cunningham kill kept the lead at 21-19. But another late dry spell did in the Bees. Trinity Christian won six of the final seven points to close out the victory.

Koerner led St. Ambrose with 11 kills. Kavalauskas finished with nine and Cunningham added eight.

Amber Tomlin was credited with 31 assists and 10 digs. Kavalauskas led the team with 14 digs. Alexis Hayes finished with five and Emma Marshall had four.

Next Tuesday, the Bees will visit Judson for a 7 p.m. contest.