ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The much-anticipated Geneva College men's volleyball season got off to a good start on Friday night as the Golden Tornadoes, the preseason favorites in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, earned a hard-fought victory over Elizabethtown College, 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-20, 25-23).  The match was the season opener for both teams.

Elizabethtown jumped out to the early lead in first set, 8-4.  Geneva pulled even at 12-12 a few minutes later, but the Golden Tornadoes could not take the lead.  The set was tied at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 before the Blue Jays scored three straight points.  Elizabethtown extended its lead to 24-19, but the Golden Tornadoes wouldn't give up the final point.  Facing five set points, Geneva scored seven straight behind the serving of junior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) to win the set in dramatic fashion, 26-24.  Junior Anthony Baronio (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge) had two kills in the final rally.

After stealing away the first set, Geneva scored the first three points of the second set behind a kill and an ace from freshman Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin).  Elizabethtown answered with three straight points to tie the score, and the set went back and forth over the next several minutes.  Geneva never trailed early, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't pull away.  With Geneva leading 15-14, the Golden Tornadoes scored three straight to take their biggest lead of the set, 18-14.  However, Geneva couldn't close things out.  Elizabethtown scored four straight a minute later to take its first lead of the set, 20-19, and Geneva couldn't recover in losing, 25-22.

Geneva jumped ahead 7-4 in the third set, but Elizabethtown reeled off five straight points to take a 9-7 lead.  However, the Golden Tornadoes answered right back with five straight points of their own behind the service of Townsend again.  The Blue Jays fought back to even the score at 15-15, which is when Geneva finally took control.  The Golden Tornadoes went on a 9-2 run with Baronio picking up three kills and senior Quinn McCracken (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) contributing two kills, and Geneva closed out the set, 25-20.

Geneva picked up kills from Baronio, McCracken, sophomore Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) and freshman Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) early in set four on its way to a 10-6 lead.  Elizabethtown, as it had done all match, responded again, eventually taking a 16-15 lead.  Spear helped serve Geneva to four straight points in response, retaking the lead 19-16, but once again the Blue Jays came back, tying the score at 22-22.  Finally, Geneva was able to put Elizabethtown away, scoring three of the final four points of the set, the last on a kill from Townsend to win the match, 25-23.

"It's always good to open the season with a win," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "We played well at times, and give credit to Elizabethtown for pushing us in most of the sets.  There were a lot of areas where we weren't particularly sharp, though.  When you out-hit and out-block a team like we did tonight, you really expect to win more convincingly then we did.  That said, our veterans stepped up when we needed them to, and I thought our freshmen gave us some good contributions tonight, but I know we have a lot of room for improvement."

Baronio led the way for Geneva, contributing in about every way possible.  He had 13 kills, 15 assists, eight blocks and six digs.  McCracken added 12 kills on a .400 hitting percentage.  Townsend finished with eight kills on a .400 hitting percentage and a team-high eight digs, while Spear also contributed eight blocks.  Geneva was especially strong defensively up front, finishing with 11 blocks compared to just three for Elizabethtown.  The Golden Tornadoes also out-hit the Blue Jays, .269 to .170.

Geneva travels down to Marymount University tomorrow for two matches with Marymount at 12:00 p.m. and Alvernia at 2:00 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 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.