SAU suffers Senior Night loss to ONU
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivet Nazarene (IL) (14-13, 8-5) | 25 | 12 | 28 | 23 | 15 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (19-11, 8-6) | 22 | 25 | 26 | 25 | 13 | 2 |
St. Ambrose closed the regular season Tuesday night with a five-set 25-22, 12-25, 28-26, 23-25, 15-13 home loss to Olivet Nazarene.
The Bees' Senior Night was spoiled as SAU missed a big opportunity in the third set.
After splitting the first two sets, St. Ambrose (19-11, 8-6 CCAC) appeared ready to win the third after going in front 20-12. Olivet Nazarene (14-13, 8-5 CCAC) ran off five straight points but the Bees still led 22-18 following a Kam Dixon kill.
The advantage stayed at four at 24-20, giving SAU four set points for a chance to go up 2-1. But the Bees couldn't capitalize.
ONU went on another five-point run to earn the first of three set points of their own. A pair of Tiger errors erased the first two chances before the Tigers ultimately closed out the set.
SAU came right back and closed out the fourth to extend the match.
The teams traded points early in the fifth and the Bees found themselves down 8-7 following a Charlie Flynn kill.
The Tigers earned a little breathing room with back-to-back points to go in front 10-7. Minutes later, the Bees got consecutive points on kills from Michael Bos and Pedro Zang to pull to within 12-11.
But St. Ambrose could never pull even. Olivet Nazarene did just enough late to escape with the five-set victory.
Zang led three Bees with double-figure digs with 19. Bos had 14 and Dixon ended with 10. Flynn finished with seven, Jon Guch had four and Kainalu Ka'ahanui added three. Ian Cordes had two kills.
Anthony Anderson was credited with 39 assists and Felipe Prieto recorded 13.
Ethan Karban (17), Dixon (15) and Anderson (12) all picked up double-digit digs.
Prior to the match, the Bees recognized their seven seniors - Jon Guch, Charlie Flynn, Anthony Anderson, Ethan Karban, Zander Larson, Cael Anderson and Dillon Markley.
SAU will host a first-round match of the CCAC Tournament next Tuesday.