BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team played two matches at home on Saturday, against the two teams in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) that were right behind it in the conference standings, Penn State Behrend and Thiel.  Geneva picked up a dramatic five-set victory in the first match against Penn State Behrend, 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 17-15).  However, in the second match against Thiel, the Tomcats controlled the match from the outset, giving Geneva its first conference loss, 3-1 (25-19, 27-29, 25-21, 25-19).  Geneva's record is now 15-5, 6-1 in the AMCC, tied with Thiel at 6-1 in the AMCC, while Penn State Behrend is now 5-2 in the conference.

In the first match, Penn State Behrend used a 6-1 run early in the first set to take a 9-5 lead.  Four more straight points later in the set from the Lions increased their lead to 19-12.  Geneva battled back to get within 23-22, but Penn State Behrend closed out the set, 25-23.

Geneva got out to an early 5-2 lead in the second set.  Back-to-back kills from freshman Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) and sophomore Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) pushed Geneva's lead to 16-11.  The Golden Tornadoes still led, 20-15, before Penn State Behrend managed to cut Geneva's lead to 23-22.  However, Geneva held on for the set win, 25-23, after a kill from junior Quinn McCracken (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian).

Geneva jumped ahead 6-2 in the third set, but that would be as big as its lead would get.  The Golden Tornadoes were still ahead 15-12 midway through set, but the Lions responded with an 8-2 run to go ahead 20-17, and Geneva couldn't recover in dropping the set, 25-21.

The fourth set was even early on before Geneva scored six straight points behind the serving of Barbato to take a 14-9 lead, the last point in the run coming on an ace.  McCracken had three straight kills in the stretch. With Geneva leading 21-15, Penn State Behrend scored four straight points to make it close, but Geneva was able to finish off the set, 25-22, on another kill from McCracken, sending the match to a fifth set.

Penn State Behrend used five straight points early in the final set to go up 5-1.  Still trailing 10-7, Geneva scored five straight points behind the serving of junior Jason Bell (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield) to take a 12-10 lead.  The Lions were able to fend off three match points at the end, but an assisted block from Barbato and senior Spencer York (Beaver, Pa./Beaver County Christian) finished the match off, 17-15.

Geneva got contributions from everyone in the win.  Sophomore Anthony Baronio posted his second triple-double of the year with 31 assists, 22 digs, and 11 kills.  McCracken had a team high 19 kills and eight blocks, to go with ten digs.  Townsend finished with 17 digs and 12 kills and eight assists, while York added 12 kills and five blocks.  Senior Matt Peters (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) added 13 assists, ten digs, and seven kills.

In the second match of the day, Thiel was the aggressor early on, and the Tomcats never let up.  With the first set tied 8-8, Thiel reeled off five straight points to up 13-8.  Geneva battled back to tie the score at 18-18, but the Tomcats closed the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-19.

Thiel continued to play well in set two, going ahead 12-6 early on.  The Tomcats still led 19-16 before Geneva scored six straight points behind the serving of Townsend to take a 22-19 lead.  Thiel fought off two set points before Geneva got a fortunate break to close out the set, 29-27.  With Geneva ahead 28-27, Barbato dug a potential Tomcat kill near the backline, and the ball floated back over the net and past the Thiel players before touching down just in front of the backline, giving Barbato the kill on the scoresheet.

Geneva appeared to get a boost from that comeback set win, going up 6-2 early in the third set.  Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes couldn't hold on.  Thiel gradually chipped away at the Geneva lead, taking its first lead of the set, 18-17.  Geneva couldn't recover the momentum, eventually losing 25-21.

Geneva used three straight points midway through the fourth set to take its only lead of the final set, 11-10.  However, Thiel scored four straight points later in the set to take control 17-13, and the Golden Tornadoes never got closer than three points the rest of the set, falling 25-19.

The final stats were indicative of how much Thiel outplayed Geneva.  Thiel finished the match with a .248 hitting percentage, while Geneva hit just .086.  Thiel also out-blocked Geneva, 18-8.  The only thing the Tomcats didn't do well was with their 18 service errors.  Baronio finished with 21 assists, 12 digs, and eight kills.  Townsend added 11 digs and ten kills, while McCracken and York each had nine kills.

"The first match against Penn State Behrend was a solid effort," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "We played well at times, and we almost had four players with a triple-double.  But we also had a number of things we could have done better in.  It was good to get the win, though.

"In the second match, Thiel outplayed us in just about every way.  We knew Thiel would be a tough matchup for us, as some of the things they do really well counter our strengths pretty well.  However, our hitting was really poor.  To finish at .086 is just unacceptable, and one of our strengths is supposed to be in our block, and Thiel completely controlled the net up front.  It was a really frustrating performance and was a reminder that despite our record, we still have a lot we need to get significantly better at.  We really didn't deserve to win even one set that match."

Geneva will look to rebound at home on Thursday against Mount Union, its final non-conference matchup of the season, starting 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 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.