BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It didn't start well for the Geneva College men's volleyball team in its match against Penn State Altoona on Saturday afternoon, but the Golden Tornadoes rebounded from an ugly first set to defeat the Lions in four sets 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-14.  Geneva won its fourth straight match to improve to 13-6 overall, 2-0 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), while Penn State Altoona dropped to 5-9 overall, 1-2 in the AMCC.

The first set was one to forget for the Golden Tornadoes, who were coming off a long five-set match against Wittenberg last night.  Geneva fell behind 5-2 early on, though the Golden Tornadoes used a three-point run later in the set to tie things up at 9-9.  However, Penn State Altoona went on a 12-4 run to take a commanding 21-13 lead, with Geneva struggling to finish off any attacks.  The Lions closed out the set, 25-18, on fittingly another Geneva attack error, with the Golden Tornadoes finishing the set with 14 attack errors and a negative .171 hitting percentage.

Junior Anthony Baronio (Ambridge, Pa./Ambridge) helped Geneva get back on track in the second set.  He served the Golden Tornadoes to the opening six points of the set, with Penn State Altoona struggling to handle his serve.  A minute later Geneva extended its lead to 10-3 before the Golden Tornadoes began to struggle again.  The Lions began to slowly work their way back into the set, and after four straight points by Penn State Altoona, the Lions tied up the set, 17-17.  It was senior Quinn McCracken (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) that helped turn the tide this time.  He put together three kills and an ace during a 5-1 Geneva run that gave the Golden Tornadoes a 22-18 lead, and Geneva finished off the set, 25-20, to even the match.

The third set went back and forth early on, with neither team leading by more than two points.  However, Geneva used a 6-1 run to take a 14-9 lead midway through the set, and the Golden Tornadoes looked to be in full control after two kills by junior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) helped Geneva take a 23-18 lead late.  The Golden Tornadoes struggled to put the Lions away, though, and Penn State Altoona used a 5-1 run to pull within 24-23, after which Head Coach Curt Conser called a timeout.  On the following play, freshman Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) came up with a kill to allow Geneva to hold on for a 25-23 win.

It was all Geneva in the fourth set.  Baronio and Williams had early kills as Geneva opened a 4-1 lead.  Penn State Altoona would pull to within 8-7, but a kill by freshman Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) started a 6-1 run to push Geneva's lead to 14-8.  With the Golden Tornadoes leading 16-12, Geneva finished the match with a dominating 9-2 run to win the set easily, 25-14.

Baronio finished the match with 15 kills, 19 assists, six digs, four blocks and four aces.  McCracken also finished with 15 kills, on a .323 hitting percentage, as well as 11 digs.  Townsend just missed a double-double with nine kills and 17 digs.  Spear finished with five kills and six blocks, while freshman Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage Academy) added a team-high 22 assists.  As a team Geneva hit .164, though Geneva hit .270 in the final three sets.  Penn State Altoona finished with just a .089 hitting percentage.

"We couldn't have played much worse in that first set," said Coach Conser.  "I don't think I've ever seen us hit that poorly.  However, we really responded in the final three sets, and other than a stretch at the end of the third set, I thought we played pretty good volleyball.  As bad as that first set was, I'm proud of how we responded after dropping the set.  Our top three guys, Quinn, Anthony and Dan all had good moments throughout the match to lead us back to victory, and several other guys gave us some quality play as well."

Geneva heads back out onto the road with a match on Wednesday at Hiram at 7:00 p.m. before returning home next Saturday when the Golden Tornadoes will host an AMCC quad match beginning at 10:00 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 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.