PHILIPPI, W.Va. – It had been 322 days since Geneva College had competed in any sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that streak thankfully came to an end on Thursday night in West Virginia as the Geneva men's volleyball team, behind the play of junior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), defeated Alderson Broaddus in four sets 25-19, 25-18, 25-27, 25-19.  The Golden Tornadoes moved their record to 1-0, while Alderson Broaddus fell to 1-2.

Head Coach Curt Conser came into the season knowing he had to replace Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Player of the Year Quinn McCracken, along with 1^st Team All-AMCC Anthony Baronio, from last year's squad, and Barbato made it clear early on that he was someone capable of helping fill that big void.

Barbato opened the scoring in the first set with two kills, and then he followed that up with an ace to give Geneva an early lead.  Alderson Broaddus battled back to take a 5-4 edge, but with Geneva still trailing 7-6, the Golden Tornadoes went on an 8-2 run to retake the lead, 14-9.  Senior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) contributed two kills in the stretch.  Geneva never let the lead get closer than three points the rest of the way, and sophomore Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) finished off the set, 25-19, with a kill.

The Rattlers scored the first point of the second set, but the Golden Tornadoes responded with six straight points behind the strong service of Barbato.  Townsend added three more kills, while sophomore Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) and freshman Carter Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) each added a kill, along with another ace from Barbato, to give Geneva a 6-1 lead.  Alderson Broaddus answered, though, with four straight points midway through the set giving the Battlers the lead back, 15-14.  However, the Golden Tornadoes responded with four straight points of their own, two on aces from Barbato, to take an 18-15 lead, and Geneva closed out the set, 25-18, with Williams contributing two kills and an ace.

The third set went back and forth early before five straight points by Geneva gave the Golden Tornadoes a 13-8 lead.  However, Alderson Broaddus slowly chipped away at the lead, and the Battlers used a four-point run to retake the lead, 23-20.  Geneva answered with a run to regain the lead, 25-24, giving the Golden Tornadoes match point, but Alderson Broaddus scored the last three points of the set to win, 27-25.

Barbato added a kill and two more aces early in the fourth set to put Geneva ahead, 5-1.  After two points from Alderson Broaddus, Geneva strung together six straight points, with Barbato and Williams contributing kills, and a moment later the Golden Tornadoes stretched their lead to 15-5 behind another kill from Barbato.  The Battlers didn't go away easily, though, closing to within 21-17, but Geneva closed out the match, fittingly on a kill by Barbato, to win the set, 25-19.

Barbato finished with a career-high 19 kills on a .366 hitting percentage, and his eight service aces tied a school record.  Townsend finished with 12 kills, while Williams added a career-high 11 kills and a team-high nine digs in the win.  Sophomore Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage Academy) directed the offense with a career-high 42 assists.  The Golden Tornadoes finished the match with a .244 hitting percentage and 12 aces compared to just nine service errors.

"This was a good effort to start the season," said Conser.  "We had a chance to win in three sets, but Alderson Broaddus is very improved from previous seasons and tested us at times.  We got good play from a number of people, especially Peter who played really well and did everything we needed him to do.  I thought we played particularly well in the first and fourth sets.  We did some good things, but there were definitely some things that weren't very good, including our block, so we have a lot to improve on.  Overall, though, it was a good start to the season."

The men's volleyball team will be back in action next Wednesday, February 3, at 7:00 p.m., when the Golden Tornadoes host Mount Union.  The match will be the first home contest for any Geneva team this season.


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.