Playing at home for the final time this season, St. Ambrose recognized its two seniors - Mikolaj Zielonka and Andreas Indicatti Mariani - before battling nationally-ranked Saint Xavier Tuesday night at Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees shook off a slow start to drop a competitive 25-12, 26-24, 25-17 decision to the No. 10-ranked Cougars.

SAU couldn't get anything going in the opening set as Saint Xavier (15-8, 8-0 CCAC) won the first four points of the match in jumping ahead 13-3. St. Ambrose (6-25, 1-7 CCAC) only managed three kills in the first set, and offset that with three hitting errors. SXU totaled 12 kills and three errors in claiming the opener.

Things didn't start much better for the Bees in the second as the Cougars went in front 3-0 and 6-2 early. But trailing 8-5, St. Ambrose found its rhythm. After an SXU serving error, Nick Fox came up with a block. Then Zielonka put down a kill. A Cougar hitting error was followed by a block from Fox and Cael Anderson. That put the Bees in front 10-8 and the teams went back and forth from there.

SAU held its last lead at 21-20. SXU earned a pair of set points at 24-22, which were quickly erased by consecutive Fox kills. But that was it for the Bees as the CCAC-leading Cougars won the next two points to take a 2-0 lead.

The third set was close early as Fox, Anderson and Zander Larson teamed for a block that put the Bees down just 11-10. Saint Xavier took control after that by winning the next seven points to extend the lead to 18-10. St. Ambrose never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Fox led SAU with seven kills. Zielonka added five, Jon Guch had three, and Anderson added two. Larson and Charlie Flynn each collected a single kill.

Anthony Anderson registered a team-best 11 assists. Mariani was credited with six.

Zielonka led the way with six digs. Dillon Markley had three while Mariani, Anthony Anderson and Ethan Karban each picked up a pair.

With a spot in the upcoming CCAC Tournament on the line, St. Ambrose will close the regular season with matches at Judson Thursday and at Viterbo next Tuesday.