Jill Kavalauskas and Mackenzie Grafton each had a kill as part of a crucial three-point run in the fifth set to help St. Ambrose outlast St. Francis (Ill.) 25-15, 21-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 Thursday night inside Lee Lohman Arena.

The back-to-back kills opened up a 13-10 lead in the final set, and Grafton and Rachael Dion then combined on a block to give the Bees a match point. Grafton took care of that two points later with her 10th kill of the night.

The win moved SAU to 15-10 overall and 7-7 in the CCAC.

Despite stretches of dominance, St. Ambrose was extended to five sets after slipping up in the second and third sets. In the third, SAU squandered a 20-15 lead after allowing a 7-0 Fighting Saint run.

The Bees regrouped in the fourth. Nursing a 6-5 lead early, SAU went on a 9-2 spurt. Kavalauskas, Meredith Siebers and Payton Wendt had kills, and Kavalauskas and Dion added aces during the run that extended the lead to 15-7. St. Ambrose led by at least five points the rest of the way to force the decisive fifth set.

The two teams traded points in the early stages of the fifth, and were tied as late as 9-9. Following a USF serving error, Maicee Pierce had a kill to build an 11-9 lead. St. Francis (12-15, 8-5 CCAC) got one point back before St. Ambrose went on its final run.

Kavalauskas led all players with 18 kills. Dion finished with 11 and Grafton added 10. Those three Bees combined for just 14 hitting errors to go along with their 39 combined kills.

Siebers collected nine kills, Wendt had five and Meredith Umland added three.

Tomlin recorded a match-high 45 assists while picking up nine digs. Pierce was the team leader with 24 digs. Kavalauskas registered 14.

The Bees also finished with nine total blocks. Grafton, Dion and Wendt were involved in four apiece.

St. Ambrose steps out of conference play to host Clarke Saturday at 1 p.m.