WAYNESBURG, Pa. -- The Geneva College women's volleyball team made the trip to Waynesburg on Tuesday night and came away with a sweep over the host Yellow Jackets 25-21, 25-13, 25-23.  With the the victory, Geneva broke a four-match losing streak while improving to a perfect 7-0 in true road matches, with an overall season record of 15-7, 7-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).  Waynesburg dropped to 2-17 overall, 0-9 in the PAC.

The first set stayed tight early, with Geneva holding an 8-7 lead early in the set.  The Golden Tornadoes then scored four straight, two on kills from freshman Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis), to go ahead 12-7.  Waynesburg would eventually tie the score at 16-16, but Geneva scored the next six points, two on kills from junior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock), to regain control of the set, and the Golden Tornadoes finished off the set, 25-21.

Waynesburg jumped ahead 5-2 in the second set, but the Golden Tornadoes responded with a huge run.  Over the next several minutes, Geneva went on a 20-2 run, including eleven straight points behind the serving of sophomore Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), who had three aces in the stretch.  Shook and senior Kacey Costal (Salem, Ohio/Salem) each had three kills in the long run.  The Golden Tornadoes then closed out the set on a kill from freshman Kimee Kuzma (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) to win 25-13.

The third set proved more of a struggle.  Geneva scored the first point, but it wouldn't lead again until the end of the set.  Waynesburg scored the next three points to retake the lead, and the Yellow Jackets eventually stretched their lead to 16-9 as Geneva struggled to finish points.  Waynesburg still maintained a lead late, 23-19, before Geneva closed with one final push.  The Golden Tornadoes scored the final six points of the set, three on kills by Shook, including the final point of the match, to steal away the set, 25-23.

"It was important to play well and pick up a victory tonight," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We've been in a little bit of a slump over the past two weeks, so we needed to regain some confidence, and tonight was good in that regards.  Hope really played well tonight, and I was proud of the way we battled back in that third set.  We didn't play very well early on in that last set, but we stepped up late to earn the sweep."

Shook finished with a career-high 15 kills in the match on a .308 hitting percentage.  Costal finished with eight kills, while senior Millicent Dofelmier (Mill Creek, Wash./Jackson) added seven kills.  Hunsinger had 33 assists to go with eight digs and five kills.  Senior Grace McCracken (Bloomington, Ind./Lighthouse Christian Academy) had a team-high 23 digs, while Coughlin added 22 digs and four aces.

Tonight's match was the first of eight matches over the final two and half weeks of the season.  Five of Geneva's next six matches will be at home, beginning with a match against Chatham on Thursday beginning at 7:00 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 115 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 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.