MARCY, NY – The Geneva College men's volleyball team had gotten off to a great start to it season, the first in school history, by winning its first four matches. The Golden Tornadoes knew that Saturday would offer their toughest test yet, and it proved that way as Geneva lost twice. In the first match of the day, the Golden Tornadoes lost to #16 Elms 25-21, 25-18, 25-13. In the second match of the day, Geneva lost to Wells 25-13, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19. Geneva's record now stands at 4-2.
In the day's first match against Elms, Geneva got off to a great start by jumping ahead 9-4. However, Elms responded by tying the set up at 12-12. The set was still tied at 19-19 when Elms finished on a 6-2 run to win the set.
Geneva also took an early lead in set two, 5-3. With the set tied at 12-12, though, Elms went on a 9-3 run to take a commanding 21-15 lead, and Geneva could never recover.
Elms carried that momentum into the third set. With the set tied at 4-4, Elms took control with a 7-1 run to go up 11-5, and the Golden Tornadoes were never a factor again, losing 25-13.
Junior
Quinn McCracken (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) led the team with ten kills and six blocks, while sophomore
Anthony Baronio (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge) finished with 11 assists and seven kills.
In the second match of the day, Wells jumped ahead in the first match 7-3, and Geneva could never get back into the set, losing 25-13.
Geneva regrouped in set two, scoring four straight points to open the set behind the service of sophomore
Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian). Wells responded with a run that put it up 11-10, its first lead of the set. With Geneva still trailing 15-14, the Golden Tornadoes scored four straight points to go back up 18-15. However, Wells answered back by taking a 22-21 lead. Yet Geneva managed to finish the set on a 4-1 run to win its first set of the day, 25-23.
The third set proved pivotal. Geneva fell down 10-5 before storming back to take a 19-15 lead. Geneva still led 24-21 and had three set points, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't finish things off and lost 27-25.
The momentum of that set carried over to the fourth set, and Wells went up 10-3. Geneva did manage five straight points later in the set to get within 21-19, but Wells finished out the set and the match, 25-19.
Baronio led the team in the second match with 17 assists and eight kills, along with 10 digs. Townsend added seven kills and a team-high 12 digs, while senior
Spencer York (Beaver, Pa./Beaver County Christian) also contributed eight kills.
McCracken was recognized for his strong play all weekend when he was named to the All-Tournament team.
"We came up here hoping to get some good competition, and we definitely found that today against Elms and Well," said Head Coach
Curt Conser. "We had our chances, especially in the Wells match, but we failed to take advantage of them. Overall, this will be a good learning weekend for our team."
Geneva returns to action next Saturday when it heads to Penn State Altoona for its first conference match of the season, starting at 1:00 p.m. Geneva will also face non-conference opponent Keuka College at 3:00 p.m. that day.
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.
