Washington, PA – It was a daunting task to face the defending conference champion and undefeated Grove City Wolverines on Friday afternoon, but the Geneva women certainly didn't go through the motions in the conference semi-finals. Three days after defeated Saint Vincent to advance to the conference final four, Geneva fell 5-0 to Grove City, but the individual scores were much closer than the final score would indicate. The loss dropped Geneva to 8-6 overall on the season while Grove City remained unbeaten at 11-0.
"We certainly didn't make it easy for them," Geneva head coach
Mandee Craft said. "I was really proud of the way they all stepped up today. It was a bit disappointing because we had a real chance to be up in the match following the doubles competition." Craft's reference to doubles was no exaggeration as two of three doubles matches were hotly contested to the bitter end.
In first doubles, the tandem of
Katherine Deitrick and
Rachael Letterman dropped a hard fought 8-6 decision while teammates
Victoria Hinds and
Bekah Locked dropped an ever closer 9-7 decision in third doubles.
The semi-final format mirrors the NCAA format in that once a team reaches five team points, the match is considered final and all other matches do not get to finish. As a result, Geneva's loss is officially scored 5-0 because Geneva dropped matches in number two singles and number six singles in straight sets which gave Grove City the necessary five points. Closer singles matches at number three saw
Felicity Orndoff drop the first set 6-4 and in number four singles where Hinds fell 6-3 in the first set. Each of the other singles matches did not go to completion.
As a result of Friday's semi-final loss, the Golden Tornadoes will return to Washington & Jefferson for Saturday's third place match. The consolation match will feature Geneva taking on the loser of today's second semi-final match between Washington & Jefferson and Westminster.
Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.
