Bees win third straight five-setter
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (13-14, 7-5) | 25 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 3 |
|
Indiana South Bend (IN) (3-26, 3-9) | 12 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 10 | 2 |
St. Ambrose extended its winning streak to four matches by outlasting Indiana South Bend 25-12, 25-21, 22-25, 20-25, 15-10 Friday night in South Bend. The last three victories have each come in five sets.
After cruising through the first two sets, totaling 28 kills against just seven hitting errors, the Bees struggled in the third and fourth. SAU had just 19 combined kills and 21 errors as IUSB forced a fifth set.
St. Ambrose woke up in the decisive set.
Mackenzie Grafton started the fifth with a kill. Kylie Brosius followed with a solo block. Two Titan hitting errors and a Grafton ace put the Bees in front 5-1.
But Indiana South Bend (3-26, 3-9 CCAC) didn't go away quietly.
After an Alexa Orozco kill put St. Ambrose in front 7-4, IUSB responded with four straight points to grab an 8-7 lead. Orozco put down another kill and after South Bend went back in front 9-8, kills from Grace Beitzel and Grafton gave SAU the lead.
The Bees were able to pull away from there. Kills from Beitzel, Grafton and Trenyce Bonner extended the lead to 14-10, and Ines Marques closed out the victory with an ace.
SAU had nine kills and just three hitting errors in the final set.
Grafton finished with 18 kills to lead the Bees. Beitzel added 13. Brosius had eight, Orozco seven and Bonner six. Kennedy Hugunin chipped in with four kills.
Marques was credited with 25 assists and Haley Doucet recorded 19.
Kenia Diaz Vega picked up 30 digs. That came on the heels of a 33-dig effort in a 3-2 win over Indiana Northwest Tuesday night. Grafton and Adriana Diaz each claimed 15 digs.
The Bees, now 13-14 overall and 7-5 in the CCAC, will return to the court Saturday at Judson.