MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – It would have been hard to do much better than the Geneva College women's volleyball team did this weekend in four matches at the Morrisville State Tournament.  After winning twice on Friday, the Golden Tornadoes picked up two more victories on Saturday, sweeping the host Morrisville State 25-20, 25-21, 25-12, and then defeating Cedar Crest in four sets by scores of 25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 25-14.  Geneva now stands at 4-0, its best to start to a season since 2012, when the Golden Tornadoes won their first eight matches.

In first match against Morrisville State, after Geneva scored the first two points of the first set, Morrisville State reeled off six straight points, prompting Head Coach Wendy Smith to call a timeout.  The Golden Tornadoes responded by going on a 7-2 run, retaking the lead at 9-8.  The set stayed close from there, but with Morrisville State leading 19-18, Geneva scored seven of the last eight points to take the set, 25-20, helped by back-to-back kills late in the set from sophomore Elana Hoppel (Castorland, N.Y./Lowville Academy and Central).
 
With the second set tied early at 4-4, Geneva scored three straight points to go up 7-4, and the Golden Tornadoes would not trail again in the set.  Morrisville State would get within one point a couple of times in the set, but with Geneva leading 20-17, the Golden Tornadoes scored four straight points to take a commanding lead, and junior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) eventually finished off the set with a kill, 25-21.
 
Geneva scored the first four points on the third set to take control again, helped by back-to-back kills from senior Kacey Costal (Salem, Ohio/Salem).  Geneva cruised from there, as the Mustangs never threatened in the final set, with the Golden Tornadoes winning 25-12 to sweep Morrisville State.
 
Costal had a team-high eight kills on a .304 hitting percentage in the match, with Hoppel and freshman Olivia Moore (North Canton, Ohio/Lake Center Christian) each contributing seven kills, with impressive .500 and .700 hitting percentages, respectively.  Hunsinger finished with 28 assists, while freshman Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) had a team-high ten digs along with five kills.  Hunsinger and Hoppel each had six blocks.
 
The second match of the day against Cedar Crest proved to be a tighter affair.  Geneva took an early 5-1 lead in the first set, but Cedar Crest used five straight points midway through set to go up 13-11.  Geneva still trailed 18-16 before the Golden Tornadoes reeled off five straight points to go up 21-18.  However, Cedar Crest used three straight points to go back up 23-22 before Geneva scored the last three points, two of them on kills by Townsend.
 
Geneva got off to a tremendous start in the second set, scoring the first nine points as sophomore Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) served five aces in the stretch.  However, Cedar Crest scored eight straight points of its own midway through the set to take its first lead, 17-16.  With Cedar Crest at set point, 24-23, Geneva scored the final three points, all on kills from Moore, to win the set, 26-24.
 
In the third set, with the score tight early, Cedar Crest scored five straight points to go up 12-6.  Geneva battled back, though, and eventually took a 21-20 lead, its first of the set, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't finish things off, losing 25-22.
 
Geneva took control early in set four, scoring five straight points to take a 7-3 lead.  Cedar Crest would close to within two, 13-11, but the Golden Tornadoes finished the set on a 12-3 run, closing out the match, 25-14.
 
Costal was huge again for Geneva, finishing with a career-high 19 kills.  Hunsinger just missed another triple-double, finishing with 36 assists, 11 kills and eight digs.  Hoppel and Moore each added nine kills.  Grace McCracken (Bloomington, Ind./Lighthouse Christian Academy) led the team with 17 digs, while Coughlin added 14 digs and a career-high seven aces.
 
"We started the day by playing a really good match against a quality Morrisville State squad that advanced to the NCAA playoffs last season," said Coach Smith.  "We weren't as sharp in our second match against Cedar Crest and had some really sloppy stretches, but overall to come up here and win four matches is a great start.  Daphne and Kacey were really good all weekend, but we also got some encouraging contributions from a number of people, including some of our freshmen.  The exciting thing for me is that I still think there's a lot of improvement we can make as the season goes along."
 
Geneva heads to Allegheny College on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. match before playing four matches at the Bluffton Tournament next weekend.


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.