BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team continued its winning ways on Wednesday evening with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 25-27, 25-15) home victory over Franciscan.  Geneva improved to 12-3 overall, while Franciscan fell to 7-7.

Franciscan jumped ahead in the first set, 7-4, before Geneva responded with five straight points behind the service of sophomore Elana Hoppel (Castorland, N.Y./Lowville Academy and Central), with senior Kacey Costal (Salem, Ohio/Salem) picking up two kills in the run.  Franciscan tried to keep the set close, getting to within 19-16, but Geneva finished the set by scoring the final six points, with Costal picking up three more kills in the run, including the final point, giving Geneva a 25-16 win.

The Barons again jumped ahead in set two, going up 4-1.  Geneva answered with seven straight points behind the serving of junior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleyville, Pa./Christopher Dock) to take an 8-4 lead.  Franciscan closed to within 14-13, but seven more straight points by Geneva, this time behind the serving of sophomore Hailee McDonough (Diamond, Ohio/Southeast), gave Geneva a commanding 21-13 lead, and the Golden Tornadoes finished off the second set, 25-15.

The third set stayed tight throughout, as neither team led by more than three points.  Geneva scored three straight points late to take a 22-21 advantage, but Franciscan answered back and eventually won the set, 27-25.

Geneva took control of the fourth set midway through.  With the Golden Tornadoes leading 13-11, Geneva scored six straight points off the service of freshman Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), with Hoppel coming up big with five kills in that stretch.  Geneva cruised from there, with Costal finishing off the match, 25-15, with another kill.

"It wasn't the cleanest match for us, but getting a win in front of the home crowd is always good," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "I feel like we haven't played particularly well at home yet, but maybe that's just because we haven't had many chances at home so far this season.  That will change next month, and I trust we will improve from here.  We did have some good moments throughout the match, we just need to be less streaky at times."

Costal once again led Geneva with 15 kills on a .300 hitting percentage.  Hoppel finished with a career-high 13 kills.  Hunsinger stuffed the stat sheet again with 39 assists, 7 digs, 5 kills and 4 blocks.  Sophomore Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) led the team again with 26 digs, while freshman Kimee Kuzma (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) continued her strong recent play with seven kills and seven blocks.

Geneva heads back out onto the road this weekend when it travels to Washington and Jefferson for a tri-match with Washington and Jefferson and Grove City.  Geneva's first match of the day begins at 11:00 a.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 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.