St. Ambrose extends No. 17 Viterbo to five sets at SAU Invite
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Mount Mercy (5-10, 1-0) | 25 | 23 | 23 | 14 | 1 |
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St. Ambrose (IA) (5-9, 0-2) | 22 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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#8 Bellevue (NE) (11-2, 0-0) | 25 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (4-9, 0-2) | 19 | 25 | 18 | 17 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#17 Viterbo (10-7, 3-0) | 25 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 3 |
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St. Ambrose (IA) (4-8, 0-2) | 22 | 16 | 25 | 25 | 14 | 2 |
St. Ambrose hosted a two-day, six-team invitational Friday and Saturday, and the Bees nearly came away with a big win. SAU pushed No. 17 Viterbo to five sets but fell 25-22, 25-16, 20-25, 20-25, 16-14 Friday night.
A large crowd nearly watched the Bees rally for the win.
Trailing 2-0, St. Ambrose picked up its play in the third. The Bees put down 15 kills against just four hitting errors. They upped those numbers in the fourth, collecting 16 kills and one error, to extend the match to the decisive fifth set.
SAU watched Viterbo take a quick 6-3 lead in the fifth. But kills from Grace Beitzel and Mackenzie Grafton, sandwiched around a V-Hawk hitting error, knotted the score at 6-6. The set went back and forth from there. The Bees were able to go in front 13-12 on a Kenia Diaz Vega ace but the nationally-ranked V-Hawks came back with back-to-back kills to earn a match point. A kill from Alexa Orozco erased it, but Viterbo was able to take the next two points to escape with the victory.
The Bees had some huge individual performances.
Orozco finished with 19 kills and 13 digs. Grafton tallied 18 kills and 14 digs. Beitzel put down 10 kills while Trenyce Bonner had nine and Kennedy Hugunin four. Ella Gatz had two kills.
Ines Marques led the team with 28 assists while Haley Doucet chipped in with 26. Diaz Vega picked up a team-high 15 digs.
That was just one of two ranked opponents for St. Ambrose as the Bees opened play Saturday with a 25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 25-17 loss to No. 8 Bellevue.
Bonner and Grafton each finished with a team-best 12 kills. Beitzel and Orozco had six apiece. Hugunin finished with five and Gatz added three.
Doucet paced the team with 20 assists. Marques had 12 and Diaz Vega handed out six to go along with 23 digs. Grafton (17) and Orozco (14) also registered double-digit digs.
SAU closed the tournament by rallying for a 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-14 victory over Mount Mercy.
The Bees were down a set and trailed 21-20 in the second before coming to life. Gatz and Bonner teamed for a block and Orozco had a pair of kills before Beitzel evened the match with a kill on set point. SAU was able to hold onto a slim lead late to claim the third set before winning the first four points on their way to controlling the fourth.
Four Bees collected double-digit kills. Grafton led the way with 16, Orozco finished with 14, Beitzel had 11 and Bonner added 10.
Marques (27) and Doucet (21) combined for 48 of the team's 53 assists. Diaz Vega recorded 18 digs while Grafton and Orozco each claimed 16.
The Bees will return to CCAC play Tuesday with a match at St. Francis.