NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- What a difference two days can make.  Just two days after putting up its worst performance of the season against Saint Vincent, the Geneva College women's volleyball team responded with one of its best performances of the year at first-place Westminster in the last regular-season match of the season.  The Golden Tornadoes dominated the match, sweeping the Titans 25-19, 25-16, 25-23.  With the victory, Geneva clinched the second seed heading into the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs, finishing the regular season at 21-8, 12-4 in the PAC.  Westminster finished its regular season with a 24-6 record, 13-3 in the PAC.

Freshman Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) helped Geneva jump out to a 9-4 lead in the first set, contributing two kills and an ace in the opening stretch.  Westminster closed to within 12-11, but kills from Shook and junior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock), sandwiched around an ace from freshman Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), pushed the lead back out to 15-11.  The Titans would get to within one again at 18-17, but Geneva closed the set on a 7-2 run, finished off by an ace from senior Millicent Dofelmier (Mill Creek, Wash./Jackson), to win 25-19.

Geneva took another 9-4 lead in set two, with sophomore Elana Hoppel (Castorland, N.Y./Lowville Academy and Central) picking up two kills.  Westminster closed to within 9-8, but the Golden Tornadoes cruised from there.  Geneva went on a 13-4 run to take a commanding 22-12 lead, with Dofelmier serving three straight aces in one sequence and senior Kacey Costal (Salem, Ohio/Salem) contributing two kills.  Hoppel finished out the set with another kill, 25-16.

The third set proved tight early.  In fact, the set was tied six times, with the final time coming at 12-12.  Geneva scored the next three points, with Townsend and freshman Olivia Moore (North Canton, Ohio/Lake Center Christian) each contributing kills.  The Titans pulled to within 16-15, but three straight Golden Tornado points extended the lead to 19-15, their largest lead of the set.  Geneva managed to hold on from there, with Moore contributing three kills and Costal finishing the match off with a kill, 25-23.

"For as poorly as we played on Thursday, we played just about as well tonight," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "I'm encouraged that we didn't let one bad match become two, and hopefully we got our bad performance out of the way.  We are glad to earn a bye in first round, and we know that from here on, every team we play is going to be good, so we're going to have to raise our level of play if we want to advance in the postseason.  But as tonight showed, when we play well, we are tough to beat."

Geneva got contributions from just about everyone on Saturday.  Hunsinger filled the stat sheet with team-highs of 35 assists and 15 digs to go with six kills.  Shook led the team with 13 kills, Costal added nine kills, and Moore eight kills.  Sophomore Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) had 12 digs.  Dofelmier finished with four kills and four aces.

As a result of finishing with one of the top two seeds, the Golden Tornadoes will receive a bye in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday.  Geneva will open with a home semifinal match on Thursday against one of the winners of the opening round matches.


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.