St. Ambrose falls to No. 12 Viterbo
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#12 Viterbo (7-4, 3-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (5-7, 1-2) | 17 | 22 | 23 | 0 |
Slow starts plagued the Bees in a competitive 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 loss to No. 12 Viterbo Thursday night in Lee Lohman Arena.
St. Ambrose (5-7, 1-2 CCAC) fell behind by large margins in both the first and second sets before rallying to make things interesting.
Viterbo (7-4, 3-0 CCAC) won the first five points of the match and led 7-1 in the opening set. Grace Beitzel put down consecutive kills to cap a three-point run that cut the deficit to 12-11 before the V-Hawks won seven straight points to regain control.
The second set saw SAU trail 10-4 early. The margin was 20-15 late but the Bees chipped away, ultimately using a 5-1 run to get within 21-20. After a V-Hawk point, another Beitzel kill and a Viterbo hitting error knotted the set at 22-22. But St. Ambrose would not score the rest of the set in falling behind 2-0.
The Bees got off to a much better start in the third, taking a three-point lead on multiple occasions, the last time at 12-9. St. Ambrose nursed a narrow lead for the majority of the third and maintained a 21-20 lead following a Viterbo serving error.
But the nationally-ranked V-Hawks proved to be too much down the stretch. Viterbo closed the match by winning five of the last seven points to prevail in three sets.
Marta Barriguinha led the Bees with nine kills. She had just one hitting error. Beitzel finished with seven kills while Hannah Krouse and Sofia Pabon each collected four. Olivia Johnson had a pair of kills.
Ines Marques had a team-best 19 assists to go along with six digs. Kennedy DeBaillie picked up 21 digs and Larkin Calay had 11. Adriana Diaz recorded nine digs while Beitzel matched Marques with six.
Johnson and Krouse registered four blocks apiece.
The Bees will host the St. Ambrose Invitational Friday and Saturday in Lee Lohman Arena and the WRC. Matches begin at 1 p.m. Friday.