BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – On Thursday night the fall sports season started for Geneva College, as the women's tennis team welcomed Bethany College to Blackhawk Courts, and the Golden Tornadoes came away with a 7-2 victory over the visiting Bison.  Because Geneva plays Bethany again later in the season, this first match between the two schools does not count in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings.  Geneva is now 1-0 on the season, while Bethany falls to 0-1.

Despite the margin of victory, Geneva had to battle to earn the win.  The match included eight tiebreakers, including sophomore Felicity Orndoff who won in #2 singles 7-6, 6-7, 10-7.  Orndoff also teamed with junior Jana Newberry in #2 doubles for an 8-1 win.  Newberry prevailed in her singles match as well, fighting through two tiebreakers to win in #5 singles 7-6, 0-6, 10-7.

The Golden Tornadoes also picked up wins by senior Katherine Deitrick in #1 singles, junior Victoria Hinds in #3 singles, and freshman Abby Mackling in #6 singles.  Sophomore Bekah Locke and freshman Kaylee McCall picked up a win in #3 doubles as well.

"This is exactly the type of battle you want to have the first match of the season," said Head Coach Mandee Craft.  "We had to fight through a lot of close sets, momentum swings, and tiebreaks.  It's good for us to have a test like that and survive."

Geneva wastes little time in returning to the court, as the Golden Tornadoes will have a doubleheader on Saturday when they travel to Penn State Altoona for an 11:00 a.m. match before heading on to Mount Aloysius for a 3:30 p.m. match.  That begins a stretch of four straight road matches for the women, as they won't return home until a match on Wednesday, September 19, when they host PAC favorite Grove City at 6:00 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.