A thrilling third-set rally propelled St. Ambrose to a 3-0 sweep of Trinity Christian in a CCAC Tournament semifinal Thursday night, guaranteeing the Bees a spot in the upcoming NAIA National Tournament. SAU will also play for the CCAC Tournament title Saturday at top-seeded Judson.

The return trip to the national tournament marks the first time St. Ambrose has qualified for back-to-back NAIA Championships since the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

The Bees got there by taking care of business 25=16, 25-19, 26-24 Thursday. The win, along with Judson's 3-0 semifinal win over Olivet Nazarene, means both Judson and St. Ambrose advance to the NAIA playoffs.

After only trailing at one point, at 1-0 to start the second, over the first two sets, SAU found itself in some trouble in the third.

Trinity Christian (11-19) used a 9-2 run to turn a 19-15 deficit into a 24-21 advantage. Facing the possibility of getting extended into a fourth set, St. Ambrose rallied. Kills from Mackenzie Grafton and Meredith Siebers erased two set points and forced a Troll timeout. On the next point, TCC was called for being out of rotation, knotting the set at 24-24. The Bees didn't let up behind the serving of Hannah Sondag. Siebers and Alex Horne combined for consecutive blocks to close out the win in front of a large SAU crowd.

St. Ambrose (18-14) finished with 41 kills and hit at a .205 clip. Trinity had just 28 kills and finished with a .026 hitting percentage.

Siebers led the Bees with 15 kills. Grafton had 13 to go along with 11 digs. Meredith Umland posted five kills, Horne had four and Devyn Church finished with three.

Sondag had a match-high 29 assists and eight digs. Lexi Huntley picked up 10 digs and Adriana Diaz had nine. Skyler Kuntzman finished with five digs.

SAU had a big night defensively. Umland was in on five total blocks, Horne was in on four and Siebers had three.

Prior to heading to Nationals, the Bees will look to win their first CCAC Tournament crown Saturday. They will face a Judson team that won the CCAC regular season championship with a 13-1 league mark. The Bees and Eagles (23-3) split their two regular-season matchups with SAU handing Judson its only conference loss on Oct. 26.