A big third set wasn't enough to overcome the strong play of Calumet St. Joseph as St. Ambrose fell to the Crimson Wave 25-16, 25-14, 28-30, 25-20 Tuesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

CCSJ (15-8, 5-2 CCAC) hit better than .500 over the first two sets, collecting 14 kills and two hitting errors in the opening set and 13 kills and one error in the second.

SAU fought off a pair of match points to bounce back in the third. After going back and forth, the Bees found themselves down 24-22 late. But a Crimson Wave serving error and a Nick Fox kill drew the teams even. Another CCSJ error put SAU in front, and the Bees would not trail again the rest of the set. St. Ambrose (6-24, 1-6 CCAC) came up empty on its first four set points, but finally, after grabbing a 29-28 lead on a kill from Dan Rice, SAU broke through. A Calumet hitting error closed it out and forced a fourth set.

The fourth was also competitive throughout. SAU was within 21-19 late before back-to-back Calumet points put the deficit at 23-19. A Jon Guch kill closed the gap to 23-20, but that would be it for the Bees as the Crimson Wave won the final two points to close out the match.

Fox led St. Ambrose with 11 kills. Charlie Flynn and Cael Anderson were each credited with eight. Ethan Chausse put down six kills over the final two sets. Guch ended with four and Rice had two.

Anthony Anderson had a team-best 24 assists. Andreas Indicatti Mariani collected 13. Ethan Karban picked up 10 digs and Chausse added eight. Dillon Markley finished with four, Zander Larson had three, and Cael Anderson and Richard Reed IV had two apiece.

The Bees will play their final home game of the season next Tuesday against No. 10 Saint Xavier.