Behind Mackenzie Grafton's career-high 29 kills, St. Ambrose came away with a 20-25, 28-26, 21-25, 25-20, 17-15 five-set victory at Indiana South Bend Thursday night.

SAU jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first set that included three service aces by Kelsey Koberg. The Titans battled back and went on a seven-point run of their own to take a 13-11 lead and eventually the set.

Down 21-17 in the second set, three straight kills from Grafton, Macy Watkins, and Alex Horne got the Bees within one. A kill from IU-South Bend pushed the lead to two, but another kill from Grafton and a Titan attack error made it 22-all. Tied at 26, SAU would win the set with an IUSB service error and a block from Meredith Umland.

After falling in the third set, St. Ambrose responded with a win in the fourth to head to the decisive fifth set. The Titans got a 12-9 lead in the final set, but the Bees were able to settle in after a timeout. A service error from Indiana South Bend, plus two kills from Umland, and a service ace by Adriana Diaz gave SAU their first lead in the set at 13-12 leading to an IUSB timeout. The home team would get it to 15-all, but Grafton closed out the match with two kills to give St. Ambrose the win.

Grafton picked up 13 digs to go with her career-high kills. Umland (14) and Horne (10) also had double-digit kills. Lexi Huntley had a team-high 17 digs, with Diaz and Skyler Kuntzman also picking up 13. Koberg recorded five aces in the match, and Hannah Sondag had 48 assists.

Next up for the Bees is the Indiana Tech Tournament in Fort Wayne, Indiana on September 8th and 9th.