For the third time in four matches, St. Ambrose was extended to a decisive fifth set. But Thursday night, the Bees came up with big plays down the stretch to pull out a victory. SAU defeated Calumet 26-28, 25-16, 26-24, 21-25, 15-12 in an important CCAC matchup on Senior Night.

After honoring their lone senior Ryan Hudson before the match, the Bees let the first set slip away late.

St. Ambrose (13-12, 6-3 CCAC) bounced back in the second and third sets. SAU had 12 kills and just one hitting error to hit .579 in the second, and followed that up with 15 kills and four errors for a .379 mark in the third.

With a chance to close out the match, the Bees faltered in the fourth allowing Calumet (6-12, 4-5 CCAC) to extend the match.

The Crimson Wave built a fast 4-2 lead in the fifth before a Pedro Zang kill and a CCSJ hitting error tied the score at 4-4. The teams traded points from there until the score was knotted at 10-10 on a Kam Dixon kill.

Charlie Flynn then put down a kill of his own before another Wave hitting error handed the Bees a 12-10 lead. SAU was able to maintain the advantage from there with Zang registering two kills, the last one giving St. Ambrose two match points at 14-12. The Bees needed just one, as a final Calumet hitting error closed out the match.

The win allowed SAU to maintain sole possession of second place in the conference. At 6-3, the Bees hold slim leads over Olivet Nazarene (5-3) and Judson (5-4) while Calumet slipped into fifth place.

The Bees received some big individual performances.

Dixon led the team with 22 kills. He also picked up five digs. Zang finished with 17 kills and recorded four of the team's eight service aces. Flynn posted 13 kills and a pair of aces. Michael Bos was the fourth Bee to reach double digits in kills, finishing with 11. Cael Anderson put down six kills.

Anthony Anderson collected a match-high 60 assists to to along with nine digs. Ethan Karban paced St. Ambrose with 13 digs. 

And playing his final regular-season match at home, Hudson had five digs and an ace, and served the Bees to several important runs throughout the match.

SAU will be tested Saturday by a pair of matches. The Bees will face No. 2 and conference-leading Saint Xavier in a CCAC battle before facing No. 4 Lawrence Tech.