The Bees gave themselves plenty of chances Tuesday night in their home and CCAC opener against Judson. But St. Ambrose wasn't able to take advantage in a 17-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-21 loss to the Eagles.

SAU was dominant in the opening set, putting down 12 kills against just four hitting errors. The Bees appeared poised to build a two-set lead when they jumped in front 18-16 in the second following a three-point run. The lead remained two points at 19-17 following a Mackenzie Grafton kill. But St. Ambrose stalled there, allowing Judson (4-5, 1-1 CCAC) to go on a four-point spurt to grab a 21-19 advantage. SAU fought back to within a single point of four different occasions, the last time coming at 24-23 on another Grafton kill, before the Eagles were able to close out the set.

A Kenia Diaz Vega ace helped put the Bees in front 13-9 midway through the third set. The margin grew to 16-11 following back-to-back kills from Grafton and Alexa Orozco. Grace Beitzel had a kill to push the lead to 22-17 late. Judson chipped away but St. Ambrose twice served for the set, up 24-23 and 25-24. But each time, the Bees missed the serve allowing the Eagles to draw even. Ultimately, Judson won the final three points of the set to escape 27-25.

A 4-0 run midway through the fourth set gave the Eagles a 16-12 lead. The Bees were able to pull to within 19-18 but Judson won six of the final nine points to close out the match.

The costly serving errors in the third set were two of 18 for SAU in the match. Six different Bees had multiple serving errors. They were able to offset that some with seven aces - three from Orozco and two each from Grafton and Diaz Vega.

Orozco and Trenyce Bonner led the team with 13 kills apiece. Grafton finished with 10 and Beitzel added nine. Ines Marques, Kennedy Hugunin and Ella Gatz each had one kill.

Haley Doucet collected a match-high 23 assists. Marques was credited with 19. Diaz Vega (23) and Grafton (15) each registered double-digit digs. Orozco picked up nine digs.

St. Ambrose, now 4-7 overall and 0-1 in CCAC play, will host a tournament Friday and Saturday. The Bees will take on No. 5 Viterbo Friday before facing No. 14 Bellevue and Mount Mercy Saturday.