Playing one of the two remaining unbeaten teams in conference play, St. Ambrose struggled in a 25-20, 25-11, 26-24 loss to Saint Xavier Tuesday night. The loss dropped the Bees to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in the CCAC.

SAU hit just .034 and finished with nine serving errors, including a total of seven over the first two sets. The Cougars (11-1, 8-0 CCAC) hit at a .213 clip and recorded six aces in the victory.

St. Ambrose fell behind 6-1 early in the first set. Trailing 24-15, the Bees put together a bit of a run, winning five straight points behind a block and kills from Payton Wendt and Mackenzie Grafton, but it wasn't enough.

That late surge didn't carry over to the second set as Saint Xavier raced out to a fast 11-4 lead. The Bees had no late rally as the Cougars cruised to a two-set lead.

The third set had a similar start with SXU taking a fast 11-5 lead. Kills from Jill Kavalauskas and Wendt and a Rachael Dion ace sparked an 8-2 run that evened the score at 13-13. The Bees remained within striking distance and again pulled even at 23-23, and another Wendt kill gave SAU a set point and a chance to extend the match. But it wasn't meant to be as SXU won three straight points to close out the match.

St. Ambrose totaled just 25 kills against 22 hitting errors. Grafton and Kavalauskas led the way with six kills apiece. Wendt finished with five kills and Meredith Umland added three.

Hannah Sondag had a team-leading 12 assists. Amber Tomlin was credited with nine. Maicee Pierce had a team-best nine digs.

St. Ambrose will next host Calumet St. Joseph Thursday at 7 p.m.