GREENVILLE, SC – The Geneva College women's volleyball team swept both matches on Thursday on the first day of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II Championship, and the two wins guaranteed a spot in the semifinals for the Golden Tornadoes. Geneva, the #3 seed, defeated #6 Toccoa Falls 25-17, 25-17, 26-24 in the first match, and then knocked off #7 Arlington Baptist 25-12, 25-11, 25-21 in its second match.
In the first match against Toccoa Falls, Geneva used a run midway through the first set to take control. With the Golden Tornadoes up 13-12, Geneva scored six straight points on the serve of freshman
Renee Rectenwald (New Alexandria, Pa./Derry Area) to take a commanding 19-12 lead on its way to a 25-17 win.
Geneva jumped on Toccoa Falls early in set two, going up 5-1. The Golden Tornadoes stretched the lead to 18-10 before finishing off the second set 25-17.
Geneva looked ready to cruise through the third set for an easy straight set win after the Golden Tornadoes slowly built up a big lead, 20-12. However, Toccoa Falls scored nine straight points to take a 21-20 lead, one of the few times the Eagles held a lead all match. Geneva faced a set point, down 24-23, before the Golden Tornadoes scored the last three points to finish off the set, and the match, 26-24.
Senior
Sydney McNulty (State College, Pa./State College Area) led the offense with 12 kills, as well as a team-high 13 digs, while sophomore
Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) set up the offense with 30 assists.
The second match of the day was against Arlington Baptist, and Geneva dominated throughout. Geneva easily won the first two sets as the Golden Tornadoes jumped out to big leads.
The only drama of the match came in the third set, as Arlington Baptist took an early 5-1 lead. After a Geneva timeout, the Golden Tornadoes responded by knotting the score at 6-6. From there the two teams went back and forth until the Patriots went on a short run to take a 16-13 lead, prompting another Geneva timeout. That's when Hunsinger responded by serving her way to eight straight Golden Tornado points, and Geneva finished off the set, and the match, 25-21.
McNulty led the offense again with 11 kills, while Hunsinger finished with a team-high 24 assists and 16 digs, to go along with four service aces.
"We played really well over both matches," Head Coach
Wendy Smith said. "Other than a couple of minor spots where we lost focus, I was really pleased with the team's play. This puts us right where we want to be. I felt like we came into the tournament playing the best we have all season, and that has carried into this tournament. But the competition only gets tougher from here, so we have to continue to play well if we want to chance to bring home a championship."
Geneva will play #2 Maranatha Baptist at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning in the last game of pool play. Both teams won their first two matches, so whoever wins tomorrow's match will receive the top seed in their pool heading into the semifinals. If Geneva wins tomorrow, it will play the second qualifier from Pool A at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening in semifinal action. If it loses to Maranatha Baptist, Geneva will play the top qualifier from Pool A at 5:30 p.m. If Geneva defeats its semifinal opponent, the championship match is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
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.
