It wasn't easy but St. Ambrose kept its winning streak alive.

In a match that saw each set decided by just two points, SAU outlasted Olivet Nazarene 26-24, 23-25, 28-26, 25-23 Thursday night in Bourbonnais, Ill. The victory, the Bees' third in a row, improved the team's record to 5-9 overall and 4-4 in the CCAC.

St. Ambrose came up with big point after big point throughout the match.

It started in the opening set. Trailing 24-23, Jason Bageanis erased the set point with a kill and followed with another to give SAU a set point of its own. The Bees took advantage of a Tiger hitting error to claim the opener.

Olivet Nazarene (4-19, 2-5 CCAC) battled back to even the match at 1-1 and led 24-22 late in the third. But the St. Ambrose defense came through. A block from Mikolaj Zielonka and Dan Rice and another from Bageanis and Richard Reed knotted the score at 24-24. A Bageanis kill tied the set at 25-25 to erase another set point. Finally, a Bageanis kill gave SAU a 27-26 edge, and the senior from Riverside, Ill., then teamed with Jake Snyder on a block to give the Bees a 2-1 lead.

St. Ambrose appeared poised to cruise in the fourth, building a 17-10 lead. Olivet used a late five-point run to get within a single point at 20-19. A Skyler Marushige kill and two straight Tiger hitting errors gave the Bees some breathing room at 23-19. Leading 24-21, SAU watched ONU win consecutive points to again get to within a point before Bageanis put down his 14th kill of the night to close things out.

"That was an exciting match," SAU head coach Ray Green said. "We started slowly, but found ourselves with each set. What a great conference win!"

Bageanis was one of five different Bees to record at least six kills in the win. Reed finished with eight, and Zielonka, Snyder and Jeramie Gutierrez had six apiece.

Snyder had a match-high 38 assists. Jesse Moreno picked up 11 digs and three aces, and Colin Teresi recorded eight digs.

SAU returns to action by facing Morningside, Goshen, Kansas Wesleyan and Central Christian at the William Penn Invitational Friday and Saturday before returning home Sunday to host No. 10 Lourdes.