On Senior Night, after recognizing its two seniors in Devyn Church and Toni Maloy, along with graduate students Kenia Diaz Vega and Mackenzie Grafton, St. Ambrose earned a big 25-19, 25-20, 19-25 25-13 win over St. Francis Thursday in Lee Lohman Arena.

The victory gave the Bees sole possession of fourth place in the conference and the right to host a CCAC Tournament quarterfinal match next Tuesday, where they will battle the same St. Francis squad.

Thursday's win, over a team that swept the Bees in Joliet, Ill., earlier this season, didn't come easy.

St. Ambrose (15-14, 9-5 CCAC) recovered from an early 6-4 deficit to ultimately take control. A kill from Grafton and an ace from Haley Doucet sparked a 6-1 run that gave SAU a 12-8 lead. The Bees were able to maintain that margin throughout much of the remainder of the set. After St. Francis (17-17, 8-6 CCAC) got to within 22-19 late, back-to-back Grafton kills and a Fighting Saint error closed out the set.

Two quick aces from Ines Marques, kills from Trenyce Bonner and Grafton, and a block from Bonner and Kylie Brosius, helped St. Ambrose win the first five points of the second set. USF didn't go away, ripping off an eight-point run minutes later to go in front 14-9. Grafton, Bonner and Brosius had kills during a four-point spurt that knotted the set at 17-17. Down 18-17, the Bees got a kill from Bonner and then were aided by a pair of Saint hitting errors to go in front 20-18. St. Francis closed to within a point before Bonner and Alexa Orozco had consecutive kills. That was followed by a block from Bonner and Kennedy Hugunin to push the advantage to 23-19. St. Ambrose took a two-set lead three points later.

With a chance to sweep, the Bees fell flat in the third. The Saints, who had 12 kills combined over the first two sets, put down 13 in the third. Other than at 1-0, SAU never led in the set and were extended into the fourth.

But there, the Bees came back to life. Marques and Diaz Vega served SAU to a fast 9-2 lead and the team never looked back. USF never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Bonner led St. Ambrose with 15 kills. Grafton had 14 and Grace Beitzel added seven. Brosius and Orozco each chipped in with four, Ella Gatz had three and Church ended with two.

Marques collected a match-best 24 assists with Doucet was credited with 17 to go along with seven digs. Diaz Vega picked up 31 digs and Grafton added 15.

St. Ambrose will close the regular season Friday against Nebraska Wesleyan at Augustana College before beginning postseason play Tuesday. The CCAC Tournament semifinals will be played next Thursday and the championship match is slated for Saturday, Nov. 16.