GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team headed to Grove City on Saturday afternoon for a tri-match with Bethany and Grove City, and Geneva had a chance for the road sweep, but ultimately had to settle for a split.  Geneva lost to Bethany in the first match of the day in five sets, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22, 19-25, 6-15.  The Golden Tornadoes then responded by defeating Grove City in straight sets 25-23, 25-11, 25-22.  Geneva is now 8-6 overall, 2-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play.

In the first match of the day, Geneva got off to a good start against Bethany, jumping out to a 6-2 advantage in the first set.  The Golden Tornadoes never let the Bison get closer than three points the rest of the set, and finished off the set on an ace from junior Carly Dolgos (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland), 25-18.

Bethany took set two by using a 7-1 run midway through the set to turn a Geneva one point lead into a big Bison lead.  Then, after falling behind 6-0 in set three, Geneva stormed back on the strength of an 8-0 run midway through the set, and an attack error from Bethany put Geneva one set away from victory, 25-22.

Unfortunately for Geneva, as was the case in its match against Saint Vincent on Wednesday, that final set proved elusive, as Bethany controlled both the fourth and the fifth sets from start to finish, giving the Bison the victory.

Senior Sydney McNulty (State College, Pa./State College) and junior Kacey Costal (Salem, Ohio/Salem) had 14 and 13 kills, respectively, to lead the offense.  Sophomore Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) had another double-double with 39 assists and 15 digs, while freshman Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) contributed 24 digs.

Despite the loss, Geneva was able to bounce back in the second match against the host, Grove City.  Trailing 22-19 in the first set, Geneva closed on a 6-1 run to steal set one, 25-23.  Geneva carried that momentum into set two, using a 13-2 run midway through the set to take control, with the Golden Tornadoes scoring the last seven points to take set two, 25-11.

Geneva then finished off the third set, and the victory, with a 25-22 win, finally winning that elusive third set that had been hard for the Golden Tornadoes to find the past week.  Geneva took control midway through the final set with a 7-1 run, turning a 15-13 Grove City lead into a 20-16 Geneva lead, and the Golden Tornadoes held off a late Wolverine rally as freshman Elana Hoppel (Castorland, N.Y./Lowville Academy and Central) finished of the win with a kill.

Senior Alyssa Kerr (Titusville, Pa./Warren County Christian) and Costal led the offense with nine kills apiece.  Hunsinger added 28 assists and 11 digs.

"I was pleased with the way we responded in the second match to make sure we got at least one win today," Head Coach Wendy Smith said.  "But we've got to figure out a way to finish off these matches when we put ourselves in position to win them.  We just made too many mistakes late again to win against a good team like Bethany.  Hopefully the win over Grove City will give us some momentum going into next week."

Geneva will play at Washington & Jefferson on Tuesday night with a match starting at 7:00 p.m., and then the Golden Tornadoes will host Thiel and Waynesburg for a tri-match on Saturday starting at 11:00 a.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.