GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College women's tennis team headed to Thiel College on Saturday morning for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) match a little short-handed, missing three starters.  Despite falling behind early, the Golden Tornadoes rallied for a dramatic 5-4 victory over an improved Tomcat team.  Geneva's record improved to 5-4 overall, 3-3 in the PAC, while Thiel fell to 5-5, 2-3 in the PAC.

Thiel jumped ahead during the doubles matches to take an early lead, 2-1.  Senior Jana Newberry (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) and freshman Emily Grove (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley) picked up Geneva's lone point in #2 doubles, winning 8-6.

The match then moved to singles play, and junior Felicity Orndoff (New Stanton, Pa./Greensburg Catholic Central) easily won her match in #1 singles, 6-0 and 6-0.  Newberry also won her match in #3 singles easily, 6-1 and 6-0.  Senior Victoria Hoal (Montrose, Pa./Montrose) lost a tough three-set match in #2 singles, while Grove dropped her match in #4 singles, putting Geneva in a 4-3 hole and forcing the Golden Tornadoes to win the last two matches.

Freshman Laura Lin Comollo (Smyrna, Del./Polytech) came through for Geneva by winning her match in #6 singles, 6-2 and 6-2, leaving senior Bekah Locke's (Atwater, Ohio/Marlington) match in #5 singles as the deciding point.  Locke won the first set, 6-4, but dropped the second set, 4-6, forcing a third-set tiebreaker.  The tiebreaker ended up going into extra points, but Locke eventually prevailed, 14-12, to set off a Golden Tornado celebration on Locke's final point.

"This was a particularly special win for our team," an elated Head Coach Mandee Craft said.  "We were playing without some of our normal starters, but the amount of heart we showed out there today made up for that.  I can't remember the last win I was this proud of, but even if the last two points of Bekah's match had swung the other way, I would have been every bit as proud of our fight today."

The win was crucial for Geneva's seeding for the PAC Tournament starting in two weeks, as the victory potentially sets the Golden Tornadoes up for a top four seed, meaning Geneva would get to host its opening round match.  Geneva returns to the court next Tuesday when it hosts La Roche for a 6:00 p.m. non-conference match.  The Golden Tornadoes then finish their regular season with a home match against Bethany on Wednesday, October 16.


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.