St. Ambrose rallied from a late three-point deficit to win the fourth set, but couldn't do it a second time in the fifth allowing Culver-Stockton to escape with a 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-11 win in Canton, Mo., Friday night.

Down two-sets-to-one and trailing 20-17 in the fourth, SAU were able to extend the match. A kill from Richard Reed started a four-point run. Anthony Anderson followed with an ace and then back-to-back Wildcat errors put the Bees in front 21-20. CSC tied the match but a kill from Jake Powers gave St. Ambrose the lead for good. Colin Teresi and Zander Larson put down kills for a 24-21 lead, and one point later, another kill from Powers pushed the match to a decisive set.

In the fifth, the Bees rallied from another three-point hole. Kills from Cael Anderson, Nick Fox and Reed erased a 10-7 deficit and knotted the score at 10-10. But the comeback ended there. Culver (2-12) won the next three points and after a Reed kill cut the margin to 13-11, the Wildcats claimed the final two points to close out the win.

Reed led SAU with 13 kills. Fox recorded 10. Cael Anderson and Charlie Flynn each put down eight, while Teresi had seven kills and Powers finished with five.

Ethan Chausse (24) and Anthony Anderson (16) combined for 40 assists. Reed was credited with 12 digs. Teresi had nine and Chausse and Dillon Markley picked up eight apiece.

St. Ambrose, now 4-12 overall, returns to CCAC play Tuesday with a match at Roosevelt.