Bees beat No. 12 Bethel at SAU Tri-Match
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#2 Saint Xavier (IL) (19-3, 9-0) | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (15-9, 5-4) | 23 | 19 | 26 | 17 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#12 Bethel (IN) (12-4) | 25 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 1 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (16-9) | 21 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Playing a pair of nationally-ranked opponents, St. Ambrose came away with an impressive split at its own tri-match Saturday afternoon at Lee Lohman Arena.
The Bees fell to No. 2 Saint Xavier in four sets before taking down No. 12 Bethel (Ind.) 3-1.
The Bees dropped the first set but then controlled play the rest of the way in the 21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 win over the Pilots.
Over the final three sets, SAU hit a combined .306 with 47 kills against just 17 errors. That included a .452 mark in the third set where the team put down 17 kills against three errors.
Michael Bos led three Bees in double-digit kills with 15. Kam Dixon had 14 and Pedro Zang added 11.
Charlie Flynn finished with seven, Jon Guch had five, Kainalu Ka'ahanui added four and Ian Cordes collected three in a balanced Bee attack.
Anthony Anderson and Felipe Prieto were each credited with 25 assists. Ethan Karban had 14 assists, Dixon finished with seven and Anderson had six.
The day began with a 25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17 CCAC loss to the No. 2-ranked Cougars.
St. Ambrose (16-9, 5-4 CCAC) held leads in each of the first two sets but couldn't close them out. The advantage was 18-16 on a Bos kill late in the first and the margin was 14-11 midway through the second.
Finally, for the first time since the 2021 season, SAU took a set from SXU.
After letting a 23-21 lead slip away and missing out on one set point at 24-23, the Bees broke through. A Saint Xavier serving error gave St. Ambrose a second set point and Flynn capitalized with a kill to extend the match.
But the Cougars got off to a 10-6 lead to start the fourth and never looked back in closing out the win.
Dixon finished with a team-best 10 kills. Bos put down nine and Zang added eight. Guch had six kills and Flynn ended with three.
Anderson handed out 20 assists. Prieto recorded 13.
Karban led the team with 13 digs.
SAU will visit Judson Tuesday.