BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The first year for the Geneva College men's volleyball program has been filled with many fun moments so far, but Thursday evening's match against Mount Union was not one of them.  The Golden Tornadoes looked flat from the start, and despite rallying to send the match to a fifth set, Geneva eventually fell at the end, 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 25-11, 27-29, 15-9).  Mount Union improved to 6-13, while Geneva fell to 15-6.

Things started poorly from the outset for Geneva, as the Golden Tornadoes fell down 6-2.  Junior Quinn McCracken (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) helped bring Geneva back even at 8-8 with four early kills.  The struggles continued, though, and Geneva still found itself down 20-16 late.  However, the Golden Tornadoes managed to rally back and steal the first set, 25-22, with a 9-2 run, capped off by a kill from freshman Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian).

Things went downhill from there.  Mount Union jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set, and Geneva never found a rhythm.  Five straight points by the Raiders midway through the set put Mount Union up 16-9, and Geneva never threatened again in losing 25-16.

The third set was even more of a struggle for Geneva.  Mount Union broke things open early, scoring four straight points to go up 10-5.  With the score 13-8, the Raiders scored eight straight points to go up 21-8, and Mount Union cruised to a dominating 25-11 win to go up 2-1.

It looked like Geneva was going to finish out the night without much of a fight after Mount Union went ahead 5-1 in the fourth set, as nothing was going right for the Golden Tornadoes.  However, Geneva used six straight points behind the serving of junior Lincoln Mimidis (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) to take a 9-7 lead, and the set remained close the rest of the way.  Geneva managed to fight off two match points late in the set to win the set on an assisted block from Barbato and senior Matt Peters (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area), 29-27, sending the match to a fifth set.

The momentum from that dramatic set win did not carry over to the final set, though.  Mount Union scored four straight points early to take a 7-3 lead, and Geneva never challenged again, losing the final set 15-9.

"We have struggled with consistency in a number of matches this season, and tonight was another example of that," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "We played two pretty good sets, and three really poor sets.  We've gotten away with that at times this season, but not tonight.  We can't expect to keep winning matches without more consistent play, and hopefully tonight reinforces that to the team.  I did think Peter Barbato played one of his better matches this year, so that was hopefully a good sign."

Barbato finished with 11 kills on a .333 hitting percentage, along with a season-high eight blocks.  Sophomore Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) also played well, finishing with 16 digs and 12 kills.  McCracken had a team-high 14 kills.  Peters finished with 32 assists and 11 digs.  However, Mount Union outplayed Geneva in most areas, and that showed up most evidently in the Raiders outhitting Geneva .302 to .136, including 68 kills to just 44 for the Golden Tornadoes.

Geneva has its longest break of the season coming up.  The Golden Tornadoes will not play over Spring Break next week, with Geneva next returning to the court on Saturday, March 23, with two games against Hiram and Wittenberg, at Wittenberg. 


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.