SAU gets two wins on opening weekend
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mount Mercy (1-1) | 19 | 21 | 26 | 26 | 12 | 2 |
|
St. Ambrose (1-0) | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 15 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (3-0) | 17 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
Goshen (0-8) | 25 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (2-2) | 25 | 22 | 16 | 17 | 1 |
|
Huntington (2-2) | 21 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (2-1, 0-0) | 20 | 20 | 14 | 0 |
|
Lewis-Clark State (4-0, 0-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
St. Ambrose got its 2021 season underway by winning a pair of matches at the Forester Invitational hosted by Huntington Friday. The Bees defeated Mount Mercy 3-2 and Goshen 3-1. Saturday, SAU fell to Lewis-Clark State 3-0 and host Huntington 3-1.
The season opener was the team's most thrilling match of the weekend.
After taking a 2-0 lead, St. Ambrose narrowly dropped the third and fourth sets. But the Bees grabbed back momentum in the fifth. Four different Bees - Rachael Dion, Mackenzie Grafton, Jessie Hemm and Meredith Siebers - each had a kill and Jill Kavalauskas had back-to-back aces as part of an 8-3 run that turned a slim 5-4 lead into a 13-7 advantage.
The Mustangs made things interesting by winning five of the next six points, but finally, on the team's fourth match point, Amber Tomlin connected with Kavaluaskas for a kill to close out the 25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-12 victory.
Siebers led all players with 15 kills and Grafton added 13. Kavalauskas finished with nine kills.
Tomlin added six kills and a team-best 30 assists. Maicee Pierce (23), Tomlin (18) and Kavalauskas (11) each reached double figure digs.
Siebers and Kavalauskas returned to put down 12 kills apiece in the 17-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-19 win over Goshen Friday. Sixteen Bees saw action in the win, and eight of them had at least one kill. Grafton had eight, Dion finished with five, and Tomlin and Lauren Swanger each added four.
Tomlin handed out 29 assists to go along with seven digs. Pierce led all players with 15 digs and Kavalauskas chipped in with 13.
After registering 18 service aces over the two wins Friday, the Bees did not record a single ace in the 25-20, 25-20, 25-14 loss to Lewis-Clark State Saturday.
Grafton (nine) and Kavaluaskas (seven) combined for 16 of SAU's 26 total kills in the loss. Grafton also picked up a team-best 11 digs. Tomlin had 17 assists.
The two-day event ended with a 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17 loss to Huntington. St. Ambrose had 17 total kills in winning the opening set, but had just a combined 27 kills over the final three sets.
Kavalauskas (16) and Siebers (11) led the team in kills. Grafton added seven and Swanger finished with five. Tomlin paced the team with 26 assists. Hannah Sondag recorded five. Pierce picked up 16 digs.
The Bees will compete in a two-day tournament hosted by Park next Friday and Saturday.