BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball home tri-match on Wednesday evening gave the Golden Tornadoes the chances to face two opponents heading in opposite directions, with Mount Union coming in undefeated and Saint Vincent arriving still looking for its first victory of the season.  It ultimately didn't make a difference for Geneva as the Golden Tornadoes swept both teams.  In the first match of the day, Geneva defeated Mount Union 25-16, 25-19, 25-21, and the Golden Tornadoes followed that up with a 25-12, 25-20, 25-17 sweep over Saint Vincent.  Geneva improved to 11-6 with the victories.

Mount Union arrived at Metheny Fieldhouse with a perfect 6-0 record, with four of those victories coming against Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) foes that Geneva will get to see twice once conference play begins.  However, Mount Union arrived without its best attacking hitter in Justin Sibbel, who was unavailable for the day's match, and Geneva took advantage.

In the first set, neither team led by more than two points until Geneva scored six straight points behind the serving of freshman Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage Academy) to give the Golden Tornadoes an 18-11 lead.  The Raiders never threatened again as Geneva pulled away for a 25-16 victory.  Senior Quinn McCracken (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) had six kills in the set.

In the second set, with the score tied early at 4-4, Geneva went on a 7-2 run to take an 11-6 lead, with freshman Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) coming up with three straight kills in one stretch, and Spear finished off the sequence with an ace.  Mount Union battled back, though, and eventually took the lead, 15-14.  However, the Golden Tornadoes regained control of the set with an 8-2 run that was sparked by a diving dig from junior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) that led to a point.  Junior Anthony Baronio (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge) and McCracken each added two kills in the run that gave Geneva a 22-17 lead, and the Golden Tornadoes closed out the set, 25-19.  Spear and sophomore Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) each had four kills in the set.

Mount Union used a 5-1 run to take an early 10-7 lead in the third set.  Geneva still trailed 20-18 before the Golden Tornadoes rallied.  Geneva scored six straight points behind the serving of McCracken to take control of the set, and Spear finished off the match with a kill, 25-21.

Geneva had a balanced attack against the Raiders.  McCracken and Baronio each had nine kills, Barbato added eight kills, while Spear finished with six kills on an .857 hitting percentage while also adding a team-high five blocks.  Townsend had a season-high 18 digs in the match, while Thomas finished with a team-high 15 assists.  As a team, Geneva finished with a .253 hitting percentage compared to just .138 for Mount Union.

The Golden Tornadoes knew they would face an overmatched opponent in their second match of the day, with the first-year Saint Vincent program struggling early in its inaugural season.  Geneva scored six straight points behind the serving of Townsend to take a 9-5 lead in the first set, with Baronio picking up two early kills.  A moment later, the Golden Tornadoes added five more straight points, with Spear contributing back-to-back kills, giving Geneva a 14-7 lead.  After two points by Saint Vincent, Baronio served Geneva to five more straight points, picking up two aces while Barbato added back-to-back kills, boosting the Golden Tornado lead to 19-9.  Barbato then finished off the set with a kill, his sixth of the set, 25-12.

Head Coach Curt Conser used the rest of the match to give his reserves some extended playing time, with most of the starters taking the remainder of the night off.  Despite that, Geneva took an early 7-3 lead in the second set, with freshman Devin Goodgasell (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) picking up two early kills.  A minute later, a kill from junior Matthew Slater (Butler, Pa./Butler) stretched Geneva's lead to 10-4.  Senior Michael Pohlod (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) served Geneva to five straight points later in the set, the last coming on an ace, to extend Geneva's lead to 17-8.  To Saint Vincent's credit, the Bearcats were able to battle back to within two points, 22-20, but Geneva scored the final three points of the set, the last on an ace by Pohlod, to give Geneva a 25-20 win.

Geneva took control of the third set early when senior Lincoln Mimidis (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) served Geneva to eight straight points, with Pohlod contributing two kills in the run, to give the Golden Tornadoes a 12-6 lead.  Geneva scored five straight points a moment later, with Thomas serving during that run, to extend the Golden Tornado lead to 18-9, and Geneva finished off the set, 25-17, to close out the match.

Barbato, despite only playing one set, led the team with six kills on a perfect hitting percentage.  Spear also had a strong second match with five kills on a .500 hitting percentage, as 12 different Golden Tornadoes finished with at least one kill.  Townsend once again led the team with 13 digs, while Thomas led again with 14 assists.

"In the first match, Mount Union is still a dangerous team, but they are obviously not as strong without their best hitter," said Coach Conser.  "That said, we did what we needed to do to make sure we came away with a win, and I felt like we controlled all three sets most of the way.  We knew against Saint Vincent we'd have an opportunity to get a number of guys playing time.  I didn't think we hit particularly well, but our ball control was pretty solid, and along with our serving, that was the difference in that match."

Geneva will now get more than a week off before the Golden Tornadoes open AMCC play next Friday, February 21, with a home match against Wittenberg 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 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. 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.