Playing for the sixth time in five days, and facing the 10th-ranked team in the country, St. Ambrose fell to William Penn 25-18, 25-13, 25-20 Tuesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

The nationally-ranked Statesmen put down at least 16 kills in each of the three sets, finishing with 49 total kills against just 10 hitting errors for a .476 hitting percentage. In the second set, they hit nearly .700 with 17 kills and one error in 23 chances.

That made it difficult for the Bees, who totaled just 25 kills, to keep up.

However, St. Ambrose (1-5) did have its moments.

After falling behind 21-11 in the first set, SAU went on a big run to make things interesting. Mikolaj Zielonka had two kills, Jon Guch had one kill, and the pair combined on a block as part of a 7-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 23-18 before WPU claimed the set.

In the second, the Bees trailed just 11-9 midway through the set before the Statesmen took control, closing the set on a 14-4 run behind their strong hitting.

St. Ambrose's best chance came in the third. The Bees led as late as 10-9 on a Cael Anderson kill and the set was tied at 11-11. A Guch kill put the deficit at 18-15 late before William Penn (3-1) pulled away.

Guch led the team with 11 kills. Nick Fox had five, Anderson and Zielonka had three apiece, and Charlie Flynn added two. Richard Reed IV had the other SAU kill.

Anthony Anderson paced the Bees with 21 assists. Ethan Karban picked up nine digs, Anthony Anderson had four and Dillon Markley recorded three.

The Bees will play their third straight home match of the season Saturday against Culver-Stockton.