Geneva Rises Up and Rallies for Quarter-Final Victory at W & J
Washington, PA – Entering the 2017 Presidents' Athletic Conference Volleyball tournament as the number five seed is not something that is commonplace for Geneva College. The Golden Tornadoes finished the regular season dropping five of their last seven and posted a 12-20 record including a 10-8 mark in the PAC. Despite what can be considered somewhat of a down year to this point, Geneva rose to the occasion on Tuesday night with an impressive 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 28-26, 25-19) victory over fourth seeded Washington & Jefferson.
The two teams split the regular season series with the Presidents rolling to a 3-0 victory on that same court just two weeks ago. On Tuesday, the Golden Tornadoes turned the tables with the stakes even higher. The victory pushes Geneva into a semi-final match-up against top seeded Thomas More College in Kentucky on Friday evening.
The match opened with W & J taking the first set which could have discouraged a young Geneva team which has struggled of late. "I am so proud of the fight our ladies showed tonight," said head coach Wendy Smith. "The way they battled back after that first set was something I've been waiting to see from this group. I couldn't be prouder of their effort and excited for the opportunity to move on this weekend."
After Geneva tied the match with a 25-19 win in the second set, the third set proved to be the pivotal turning point and one that went down to the wire. In a set that went back and forth, it was McKenna Shick who fired back to back service aces to claim the 28-26 victory. The Golden Tornadoes rode that momentum into the final set and managed to hold off W & J to claim the victory.
"We faced a great challenge tonight and responded," continued Smith. "Daphne Hunsinger put this team on her back and made some magic." Hunsinger posted a triple-double on the night with 14 kills, 34 assists and 25 digs. She became the first Geneva player to accomplish such a statistical feat all year long. Not to be outdone, Erica Hughes posted a team best 21 kills while Alexis Jordan matched Hunsinger's 14 kills.
Geneva will head back to the road in the first of two semi-final matches to be played on Friday at Thomas More. The Golden Tornadoes will begin at 6 pm with the night cap between Westminster and Bethany slated for 8 pm. Bethany snuck past Chatham on Tuesday with a five set victory to earn the final semi-final spot. The two winners on Friday will face-off in the PAC championship match on Saturday with the conference winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament.
