SAU gets two wins at Fighting Bee Invitational
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cumberland (TN) (0-1) | 20 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 14 | 2 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (1-0) | 25 | 15 | 22 | 25 | 16 | 3 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Culver-Stockton (MO) (0-2) | 23 | 23 | 17 | 0 |
|
St. Ambrose (IA) (2-0) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
St. Ambrose officially opened its season by winning two matches at its own Fighting Bee Invitational.
Friday, the Bees defeated Cumberland 25-20, 15-25, 22-25, 25-23, 16-14. And Saturday, the event moved to Black Hawk College, and SAU needed only three sets to defeat Culver-Stockton 25-23, 25-23, 25-17.
Trailing 2-1 and down 21-18 in the fourth against Cumberland, a team receiving votes in the NAIA preseason poll, St. Ambrose rallied. Kills from Pedro Zang and Carter Zelnis, and a block from Felipe Prieto and Charlie Flynn, evened the score at 21-21. The teams traded the next four points with kills from Zang tying the score at 23-23. A Phoenix hitting error was followed by another Zang kill to extend the match.
The Bees built leads of 6-2, 11-6 and 14-10 before the Phoenix pulled even at 14-14. But SAU regrouped with a kill from Zang and a Cumberland hitting error to win the match.
Zang finished with a team-best 15 kills. Flynn and Michael Bos collected seven apiece and Jon Guch added six. Prieto was credited with 26 assists and nine digs. Anthony Anderson handed out 10 assists. Ethan Karban picked up 13 digs. Kam Dixon posted three aces.
The three-set win over Culver-Stockton was less dramatic with seven different Bees each coming up with at least four kills.
Kainalu Ka'ahanui led the way with seven kills. Flynn, Box and Dixon put down five each. Zang, Guch and Ian Cordes had four kills each.
Anderson recorded 21 assists and Prieto had 12. Ka'ahanui and Karban each registered nine digs and Anderson came up with eight.
St. Ambrose will play four matches at UHSP as part of the HOA Challenge in St. Louis, Mo., next Friday and Saturday.