VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team traveled south to open its season, taking part in the Virginia Wesleyan Invitational with two games on Friday and two more to follow on Saturday, with the first day proving to be a success as the Golden Tornadoes picked up two wins.  Geneva defeated Alverno (WI) College 25-12, 25-19, 25-17, and then followed that immediately up with a win over St. Mary's (MD) College 23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-23.  Geneva is now 2-0 on the young season.

In the first match against Alverno, Geneva proved to be too strong for the Inferno.  Sophomore Daphne Hunsinger led the team with 11 kills.  Senior McKenna Shick added 18 assists and 4 aces.

In the second match against St. Mary's, sophomore Hunsinger led the way again, doing a little bit of everything.  She led the team, along with senior Sydney McNulty, with 10 kills.  Hunsinger also had 21 assists, 15 digs, and 6 aces.  Freshman Kayla Coughlin also had a strong match, finishing with a team-high 16 digs to go with 4 aces.

"I was really pleased with our effort today," Head Coach Wendy Smith said.  "We had strong ball control and served well, and our setters really made smart decisions.  We also had a great showing from our freshmen, so that's encouraging to see them contribute right away.  We did have a few issues throughout the day, but overall we were able to overcome those pockets of adversity and come away with two good wins."

Geneva will be right back out on the court tomorrow when it plays McMurry (TX) at 9:30 a.m.  The Golden Tornadoes will then finish up their play at the invitational with a match against Widener College at 1:30 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.