BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team had a battle on its hands against the Saint Vincent Bearcats on Saturday afternoon in Metheny Fieldhouse, but sophomore Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) and freshman Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) had big games to lead Geneva to a 3-1 victory over Saint Vincent, 22-25, 25-14, 29-27, 25-20.  Geneva improved to 9-12 overall, 6-4 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Saint Vincent dropped to 7-12, 4-8 in the PAC.

Geneva had a fairly smooth sweep of Saint Vincent three weeks ago in Latrobe, but the Golden Tornadoes found out early that they would have to work harder than they did before if they were going to pick up another victory.  The Bearcats led the entire first set as Geneva struggled with both its serve, and its serve-receive.  Saint Vincent jumped ahead 11-5 on its way to a 16-9 advantage.  Geneva put together four straight points to close within 16-13, but the Bearcats responded with another good stretch to build their lead to 21-14, and despite a late Geneva run, Saint Vincent closed out the set, 25-22.

A kill by Veon and back-to-back kills from Neville gave Geneva an early 7-4 lead in set two.  After a Bearcat point, sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and Veon added a kill apiece as the Golden Tornadoes stretched their lead to 10-5.  A few minutes later, freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) had three kills, and freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) added a kill in a run that extended Geneva's lead to 16-9, and the Bearcats never threatened again.  Geneva took the set 25-14 to even the match.

The third set was the toughest set of the match.  The Bearcats jumped ahead 5-2 and forced Geneva to play from behind almost the whole set.  Saint Vincent led by as many as six, 15-9, at one point in the set, and the Bearcats still led 20-15 when Geneva began to rally.  The Golden Tornadoes scored four straight, the last on an ace from junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), to pull within 20-19, and then back-to-back kills from Mummau and Veon evened the set at 22-22.  Geneva got to set point, 24-23, before two straight Bearcat points put Saint Vincent on set point.  The two teams alternated the next five points, with Geneva fending off three set points, before kills by Schmidt and Mummau helped the Golden Tornadoes score the final three points to win 29-27.

Saint Vincent again took the early lead in the fourth set, maintaining a two-point lead midway into the set, 12-10.  Geneva rallied with four straight points, with sophomore Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) and Veon adding kills and Townsend delivering another ace to give Geneva a 14-12 lead.  The Bearcats were able to tie the score at 17-17 later in the set, but kills by Neville and Byers gave Geneva the advantage, and the Golden Tornadoes held on to win 25-20.

Neville finished with 19 kills on a .326 hitting percentage, while Veon added 16 kills on an even better .444 hitting percentage in her first match back with the club after missing the last two weeks due to COVID protocols.  Both were career highs for the duo.  Schmidt added 14 kills, while Mummau finished with 10 kills, giving the Golden Tornadoes four players with double-digit kills.  Townsend led the team with 19 digs, Peachey had 34 assists, 17 digs and five kills, freshman Haley Barkovich (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell) finished with 18 digs, and freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian) contributed 26 assists.  As a team Geneva hit an impressive .264, with a season-high 68 kills.  Saint Vincent finished at .133.

"It wasn't always pretty today, and we struggled in some areas we need to improve on, but the team just kept battling and found a way," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "It was really good to have Megan back, and our attack was so balanced today.  When we got our serves in, and when we passed well, we really hit well today, but we gave away too many points on the service line.  That needs to improve, but overall it was a good win as Saint Vincent played well and made us earn this victory."

Geneva gets a day off before heading to W&J on Monday for a 7:00 p.m. start.

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).