CLINTON, Iowa - Junior Kelsay McCausland of Camanche equaled a season-high 18 kills to begin the postseason and the Ashford University (22-17, 4-4 MCC) volleyball team moved on to the semifinals of the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament on Saturday.

Junior Allison Uceda of Lima, Peru, added 12 kills and the Saints put together a 3-1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23) win over No. 5 seed Mt. Mercy College

The Saints advanced in the bracket to face No. 1 seed St. Ambrose University on Wednesday. The MCC regular-season champion Queen Bees beat eighth-seeded Waldorf College in four sets in their quarterfinal clash.

A time has not yet been determined for the semifinal match, but SAU will host the No. 1/4 matchup in Lee Lohman Arena.

"We played well and came out with a lot of fire in front of the home crowd," AU Head Coach Micah Cewe said. "Our next task is to focus for a good St. Ambrose team and look to continue our run in the tournament."

AU cruised to a first-set win and got off to a fast start reminiscent of their regular-season triumph over the Mustangs just a week ago on Senior Night. The Saints never trailed in the first set and expanded their lead up to six points (19-13) after a service ace by McCausland.

The second set began with the same kind of tone, but both teams see-sawed before Mt. Mercy prevailed in the late stages.

The Saints had to dig deep in the fourth set after the Mustangs raced out to 3-0 lead and led 19-21 late.

Junior Hanna Bruns of La Porte City cut the deficit to one with a kill and combined with senior Lisa LaMasse of Hanover Park, Ill., to stuff prolific Mt. Mercy freshman Brittney Thomas at the net to tie the match at 21-all.

Bruns nailed down the go-ahead kill to put Ashford up 23-22 as Mt. Mercy called timeout, but the momentum was on the Saints side and Uceda dealt the winning blow with a powerful spike on the game's final point.

"I kind of struggled in the second and third game and it really felt good to get something going," Bruns said. "We knew that Mt. Mercy would come in and play a lot of different, but we also knew what they would be bringing at us."

McCausland had three service aces and tied her season-best effort with 18 kills (McKendree College on Oct. 24). The 1,000 career kill member was a driving force up front again and also had four assisted blocks.