GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team came into its match at Thiel on Thursday evening riding a four-game winning streak, which included a home sweep of the Tomcats two weeks ago. Things went much differently for the Golden Tornadoes on this night, though, with Thiel returning the favor with a sweep over Geneva 25-18, 25-19, 25-23. Thiel improved to 7-15 overall, 7-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while the Golden Tornadoes dropped to 8-12, 5-4 in the PAC.
Geneva fell into an early hole in the first set, 5-3, and it was a sign of things to come as the Golden Tornadoes played almost the whole match from behind. Geneva pulled to within 9-8 after an ace from sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty), but the Tomcats responded with an 8-1 run, including six straight at one point, to take a commanding 17-9 lead. The Golden Tornadoes didn't give up, with freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) and Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) coming up with two kills apiece during a stretch that pulled Geneva within 19-17, but the deficit ultimately proved too much to overcome, with the Tomcats finishing out the set, 25-18.
Thiel once again jumped to an early lead, this one 6-2, in the second set, forcing Geneva to play from behind again. Kills from Mummau and Peachey did enable the Golden Tornadoes to pull even at 7-7, but the Tomcats answered with a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead. A moment later, Thiel extended its led to 19-10. To its credit, Geneva didn't fold, fighting back to pull within 22-19, with Mummau leading the charge with five kills, but Thiel held on to close out the set, 25-19.
Geneva fell down 4-1 in the third set, leaving the Golden Tornadoes to play from behind as they had done all match. Geneva did manage to battle back and take a brief 11-10 lead after a kill from sophomore Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview), but the Tomcats answered with a run to take a 15-12 lead. The Golden Tornadoes managed to tie the set five times down the stretch, the last coming at 23-23 after an ace from junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), but Thiel scored the final two points to close out the match, 25-23.
Geneva hit just .066 as a team, with 25 hitting errors, compared to Thiel who hit .222 with just 14 hitting errors. Mummau led the team with 11 kills, while Neville added eight kills. Peachey had a team-high 20 assists, to go with ten digs, while Townsend led the defense with 13 digs.
"This was a disappointing result," said Head Coach Wendy Smith. "We're clearly still suffering the effects of having to miss almost ten days because of COVID protocols, and not having Megan (Veon) available tonight also hurt us. Thiel is definitely playing better than when we first met them, and we just didn't play well enough to deserve a victory tonight."
Geneva finally gets a chance to play at home on Saturday after two weeks away. The Golden Tornadoes host Saint Vincent at 1:00 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 has one of the top 100 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. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).
