In a tightly-bunched CCAC, St. Ambrose let an opportunity slip away in a 3-1 loss at Judson Tuesday night. The Bees (6-19, 5-7 CCAC) fell a game out of eighth place in the standings following the 17-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-21 loss to the Eagles.

Two kills from Jill Kavalauskas came as part of a 5-0 run and were followed by kills from Brea Cunningham and Rachael Dion as part of a larger 8-1 spurt that gave SAU a 20-11 lead in the first set. That paved the way for the Bees to claim the opener 25-17.

A kill from Jenny Koerner, a block from Cunningham and London Williams, and an ace from Alexis Hayes staked SAU to a 5-1 lead in the second. But six straight Judson points erased the early advantage.

The Bees still appeared poised for a two-set lead after a Williams kill built an 18-13 edge. The Eagles answered with five straight points to tie the score at 18-18. Another Williams kill gave SAU a brief 19-18 lead before Judson ripped off a three-point run for a 21-19 lead.

Down 24-22, St. Ambrose erased two set points on back-to-back Koerner kills before consecutive hitting errors handed the set to Judson.

The third set played out in a similar fashion.

SAU raced to a 5-1 lead behind kills from Koerner, Williams and Abby Happ, and a block from Cunningham and Happ. The Bees led by as many as five points as late as 16-11 and held a four-point lead as late as 19-15. Cunningham put down a kill to keep the Bees in front 22-20 before the Eagles responded with three straight points. After the teams traded points, Happ had a kill to even the set at 24-24 before Judson closed out the third.

JU (19-10, 6-6 CCAC) took early leads of 7-3 and 12-5 in the fourth. The margin grew to 23-14 before SAU put together a late rally. Kills from Amber Tomlin, Dion and Koerner, and an ace from Happ highlighted a seven-point run that drew the Bees to within 23-21. The comeback ended there as consecutive Eagle points closed out the match.

Koerner led St. Ambrose with 16 kills. Dion finished with eight, Happ had six and Kavalauskas added five. Tomlin led all players with 34 assists and 16 digs. Grace McGrath was credited with 14 digs.

The Bees will turn around and visit St. Francis Thursday night.