Another fast start propelled St. Ambrose to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 home win over Indiana South Bend Thursday night.

And although it wasn't a 10-0 start like the Bees produced against Trinity Christian Tuesday, an 8-3 run out of the gate was more than enough to ultimately move SAU to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the CCAC. It is the program's best start in conference play since the 2017 team opened with five straight league wins.

Two kills from Jill Kavalauskas and single kills from Emily Pobanz and Mackenzie Grafton helped the Bees open up a fast 8-3 lead. The Titans got as close as 15-12 before kills from Alexandria Horne and Meredith Umland sparked a 5-1 run. A Maicee Pierce ace capped the spurt that pushed the lead to 20-13. St. Ambrose closed out the set moments later.

Kavalauskas helped SAU to another quick start in the second set. She had two kills to power the Bees to a 4-1 lead. Nursing a 7-5 lead, Umland and Horne combined for a pair of blocks as part of a five-point run that built a 12-5 advantage. Meredith Siebers later put down a pair of kills during a string of four straight points that padded the lead at 21-12. IUSB made a late charge to get within 23-20 before SAU won the next two points for the two-set lead.

But after taking a 3-1 lead behind kills from Riley Epperson and Horne, St. Ambrose played from behind much of the third set.

The deficit was 10-8 before consecutive kills from Horne tied the set and sparked a run. Two Titan hitting errors and a pair of Epperson aces put the Bees in front 14-10 and a Grafton-Horne block capped the 7-0 run and upped the Bee lead to 15-10.

South Bend caught St. Ambrose at 21-21, but an Epperson kill gave SAU the lead for good. Grafton's team-leading ninth kill of the match built a 24-22 lead and an IUSB error closed out the match.

Siebers and Kavalauskas each finished with eight kills. Siebers did not record a hitting error in her 14 chances. Horne finished with seven kills, Umland and Epperson each had four, and Pobanz registered three. Kylie Brosius and Hannah Sondag were also each credited with a kill.

The Bees totaled 45 kills against just 18 hitting errors for a .248 hitting percentage.

Sondag led the way with 23 assists. Neenah Primas posted 14.

Pierce had a match-high 16 digs. Primas had six, and Sondag and Lexi Huntley picked up five apiece.

A busy week continues as St. Ambrose will compete in the Liz Lykowski Memorial Tournament hosted by Indiana Tech this weekend. SAU will face Concordia (Mich.) and Goshen on Friday before closing the tournament with matches against Indiana Tech and Indiana Southeast Saturday.