St. Ambrose saw its perfect start in CCAC play come to an end in a 25-23, 25-18, 25-22 home loss to Indiana Northwest Tuesday night.

The Bees, who had started 4-0 in the conference, got off to a solid start in the first set but couldn't maintain the momentum.

Kills from Meredith Siebers, Jill Kavalauskas and Alexandria Horne helped SAU get off to a 4-2 lead. The margin was still two points as late as 13-11 following another Kavalauskas kill. But Indiana Northwest (11-4, 2-2 CCAC) won four points in a row as part of a larger 9-1 run that put the RedHawks in front 20-14. Trailing 22-18, SAU made a late push, getting a block from Meredith Umland, a kill from Siebers and an ace from Hannah Sondag to get within a point at 22-21. That was it as IUNW won three of the final five points to steal the opening set.

The second set was close early with the Bees leading 10-8 on a Horne kill. The RedHawks responded with a 6-1 spurt and never trailed again. Minutes later, a five-point run extended the lead to 21-14 and effectively ended the set.

Despite falling behind 4-1 to open the third, St. Ambrose battled back. A kill from Horne and a pair of aces from Mackenzie Grafton put the Bees in front 7-5. Kavalauskas put down consecutive kills to close out a 4-0 run that gave SAU a 12-7 lead. The lead was as large as six points and was still at five points as late as 20-15. St. Ambrose would win just two more points. Indiana Northwest won four points in a row, and after a Sondag kill, came back with five more straight points to grab a 24-21 edge. A Kavalauskas kill erased one match point before the RedHawks closed out the win.

Kavalauskas led the team with 11 kills. Siebers collected nine, Horne finished with seven, and Grafton and Umland each had three. Sondag had a team-best 23 assists. Neenah Primas was credited with nine. Maicee Pierce led all players with 18 digs. Siebers also reached double figures with 10 digs.

SAU, now 11-4 overall, is off a week before hosting Judson next Tuesday.