BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team got off to a good start in its match with Saint Vincent on Wednesday night, winning the first two sets, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't find a way to finish off the visiting Bearcats, eventually losing in five sets 25-21, 26-24, 21-25, 17-25, 8-15.  Saint Vincent improved to 5-7 overall, 2-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 7-5, 1-2 in the PAC.

The Golden Tornadoes had a bad habit on Wednesday night of falling behind early in each set.  They were able to overcome it in the first two sets.  In the first set, Geneva trailed 19-15 before finishing on a 10-2 run to take the set.  The second set saw the same thing, as Geneva trailed the whole set, including 24-22, until Geneva won the last four points to steal set two away.

Unfortunately for Geneva, its struggles early in sets continued, and it eventually came back to cost it.  Geneva had a shot in set three for the sweep after a 6-1 run turned an 18-14 deficit into a 20-19 lead, but the Golden Tornadoes late-set magic didn't continue as Saint Vincent finished off the set, 25-21.

The last two sets saw more of the same thing, as Geneva fell down early in each set, fought its way back into the set, but couldn't sustain things.  With momentum in hand, the Bearcats finished off the final two sets for the comeback victory.

"To be honest, I felt like we were flat all night long," Head Coach Wendy Smith said.  "Even the first two sets that we won, I didn't feel like we were playing particularly well, though I was pleased with our effort late in those sets.  However, we've got to play better from the beginning of each set.  We're still working through some combinations with some of our young players, and clearly we've got some work left to do in order be the type of team I feel like we can be."

Sophomore Daphne Hunsinger had another triple double with 37 assists, 21 digs, and 10 kills.  Senior Sydney McNulty continued her strong play, leading the team with 14 kills, while freshman Kayla Coughlin led the way with 28 digs.

Geneva will continue PAC play this Saturday with a tri-match at Grove City.  The Golden Tornadoes will play Bethany at 1:00 p.m. followed by a match with Grove City at 3:00 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.