A rally came up short as SAU dropped a 3-1 contest to cross-river rival Augustana Tuesday night in Lee Lohman Arena.

St. Ambrose kept pace with the Vikings in the opening set, but eventually fell 25-22 and then lost the second set to 25-17. It took the Bees extra points to come away with the third set 26-24. Augustana put away the Bees 25-18 in the final set to close out the match. The loss moves SAU to .500 on the season at 7-7.

Down 2-0, the Bees came to life early in the third. A kill from Zander Larson and an ace from Anthony Anderson came part of a 3-0 start. Nursing a 9-7 advantage, St. Ambrose found some breathing room as a kill from Kam Dixon, an ace from Charlie Flynn, and a block from Conner Rogalski and Michael Bos sparked a four-point run that opened a 13-7 lead.

Three points later, Pedro Zang put down a kill. That was followed by a Kainalu Ka'ahanui ace. Finally, Bos hammered a kill to up the margin to 17-10.

Augustana (8-3) came right back, ripping off a six-point run to close to within a single point at 17-16. SAU righted the ship with a Felipe Prieto ace and a Dixon kill restoring a 20-17 lead. The Vikings made a final push to ultimately lead as late as 22-21.

Kills from Dixon and Zang gave St. Ambrose a pair of set points, but Augustana erased them both with two straight points. Bos gave the Bees another chance with a kill, and Zang closed it out with a kill of his own.

SAU carried that momentum into the fourth set. Two kills from Dixon and another from Bos pushed the Bees in front 3-1 early.

The lead got as large as three points at 5-2 on another Dixon kill and the teams were tied as late as 11-11 after a Bos kill. But Augustana put together a back-breaking five-point spurt to build a 16-11 lead. SAU got to within 16-14 before the Vikings won four of the next five points to go in front 20-15. Minutes later, Augustana won five of the last six points to wrap up the victory.

Things may have turned out differently if SAU would have been able to win a back-and-forth first set.

The teams traded points throughout with SAU last leading at 20-19 but tied as late as 21-21. But two Viking kills and a Bee hitting error handed Augustana three set points. The Vikings just needed two in winning the opener, en route to taking down the Bees in four.

Dixon led all players with 20 kills. Zang put down 12 and Bos narrowly missed double figures, finishing with nine.

Anderson was credited with 34 assists. Ethan Karban picked up 11 digs while Ka'ahanui came up with 10. Bos led the team with four total blocks.

The Bees will have almost a two week break before returning to the court on Feb. 24. St. Ambrose will play host to the V-Hawks of Viterbo University. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.