St. Ambrose stepped out of conference play for a pair of matches at the Missouri Baptist Classic Friday and Saturday. The Bees dropped both in four sets, falling to No. 4 Missouri Baptist 26-24, 20-25, 29-27, 25-22 and then to Cumberland (Tenn.) 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19.

The Bees began play by splitting the first two sets with the nationally-ranked Spartans. SAU had a great opportunity to take a 2-1 lead after grabbing a 20-17 late in the third set. MBU (20-2) rallied with five straight points and ultimately earned two set points at 24-22. A Spartan hitting error and a block from Jill Kavalauskas and Alexandria Horne evened the score at 24-24.

St. Ambrose had a pair of set points at 25-24 and again at 27-26, but could not convert. Missouri Baptist took advantage by winning the final three points to take the set, and the Spartans wrapped up the match a set later.

Kavalauskas led SAU with 10 kills. Mackenzie Grafton had eight, Meredith Siebers recorded seven, Emily Pobanz finished with six, Meredith Umland had five and Horne added four.

Neenah Primas had a team-high 19 assists. Hannah Sondag was credited with 17. Grafton paced the Bees with 10 digs. Sondag had nine and Maicee Pierce picked up eight.

The Bees were able to stay close things to their defense. Umland led the team with 10 total blocks. Horne was in on eight and Pobanz and Kavalauskas each registered six blocks.

SAU came up a little short Saturday morning, falling to Cumberland in four sets.

Siebers had 16 kills and Grafton added 13. Kavalauskas finished with nine and Horne added six. Sondag was credited with 47 of the team's 50 total assists. Pierce collected 13 digs. Lexi Huntley had five digs and three aces in the loss.

The Bees, now 15-7 overall, return to CCAC play with a match at Olivet Nazarene Tuesday.