GREENVILLE, SC – In what was an undoubtedly very frustrating last day of the season for the Geneva College women's volleyball team, the Golden Tornadoes dropped their second five-set match of the day, this one to Bob Jones University in the semifinals of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Division II Championship.  This loss, which finished at 25-17, 18-25, 26-24, 23-25, 15-13, came on the heels of a five-set loss earlier in the day to Maranatha Baptist in Geneva's last pool play match of the day, which forced Geneva to take to take on the #1 seed and host Bob Jones in the semifinals.  Geneva finished its season with a 21-14 record.

Nothing went right for the Golden Tornadoes in the first set.  Bob Jones took control early on, and Geneva never led in the set.  After Geneva cut the deficit to 12-9, Bob Jones went on an 8-1 run to go up 20-10, and the Bruins finished off the set 25-17.

Geneva responded in the second set, though.  Trailing 11-10, the Golden Tornadoes went on an 8-1 run themselves to go up 18-12, and Geneva held on from there 25-18.

The third set proved to be the crucial set of the match.  Geneva fell down early in the set, and still trailed 14-10 when the Golden Tornadoes responded with a 6-2 run to tie the score back up at 16-16.  From there the teams went back and forth until Geneva looked poised to take the set, up 24-22.  But the Golden Tornadoes, as has been a problem all season, was unable to close out the set, with Bob Jones scoring the last four points to steal away the set, 26-24.

To Geneva's credit, it fought back in a close fourth set.  Tied at 23-23, Geneva scored the last two points, the final one on a kill from junior Kacey Costal (Salem, Ohio/Salem), to send the match to a fifth set.

Geneva looked to have put itself in great position to win the match by jumping out to a 9-4 lead.  However, things fell apart late again, as Bob Jones stormed back to win the set, and the match, 15-13, adding another heartbreaking loss to Geneva's season that seemed to have so many of them.

"First off, I'm really proud of our team and the way we competed today," Head Coach Wendy Smith said.  "This was a really great opportunity for our program to be able to compete in this tournament.  It's a very frustrating way for the season to end, though, and in many ways just emblematic of many of the same problems that plagued us all season.  We were always right on the cusp of some great things this year, but we just could never seem to be able to close things out against the good teams we faced.  It's not the result we came here for, but I'm still thankful for all the hard work this team put in this season, especially our seniors, who were such a central part of this year's team."

One of those seniors, Sydney McNulty (State College, Pa./State College Area), once again led the team in kills, as she has all season, with 21.  Sophomore Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) had her second triple-double of the day, finishing with 40 assists, 20 digs, and 13 kills.  Senior McKenna Shick (Knox, Pa./Keystone) finished with a team-high 35 digs.

McNulty, Shick and senior Allyssa Kerr (Titusville, Pa./Warren County Christian) were all starters for the Golden Tornadoes this season, leaving Coach Smith with some big shoes to fill in the program as she looks to add to a strong core that will still be returning next season.


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.