WASHINGTON, Pa. – Two days after finishing with a career-high 19 kills in a win over Saint Vincent, sophomore Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) led the Geneva College women's volleyball team with 18 kills in a four-set victory at W&J on Monday night, 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22.  The Golden Tornadoes won their second straight to improve to 10-12 overall, 7-4 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while W&J dropped to 2-18, 2-11 in the PAC.
 
The teams alternated points early in the first set until W&J scored three straight to take a 9-7 lead.  After Geneva pulled even, the Presidents scored four straight points to take their biggest lead of the set, 16-12.  W&J still led 19-15 when Geneva rallied.  Neville had three kills in a six-point run, and after a President point, a kill by sophomore Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) and an ace from sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) extended Geneva's lead to 23-21.  Kills by Neville and freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) finished off the set, 25-22.  Geneva hit an impressive .360 in the set.
 
Geneva struggled most of the way through the second set.  W&J jumped out to an early 7-2 lead.  A moment later, the Presidents extended their lead to 10-4.  The Golden Tornadoes would battle back, with kills from Neville, Schmidt and freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian), and aces from Peachey and freshman Haley Barkovich (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell), helping Geneva pull within 16-14.  However, W&J immediately responded with six straight points to take a 22-14 lead, and the Presidents easily closed out the set, 25-18.
 
Kills by freshmen Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) and Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) helped Geneva take a 3-0 lead in the third set.  Three kills from Neville and two from Schmidt extended the Golden Tornado lead to 16-8, and a moment later three straight Geneva points appeared to put the Golden Tornadoes in full control, 19-10.  However, Geneva began to struggle, and W&J took advantage.  The Presidents quickly battled back into the set, and within just a couple minutes, W&J pulled within 23-22.  However, two President errors gave Geneva the final two points, 25-22.
 
Neither team could gain much separation in the fourth set, with both teams unable to take more than a two-point lead midway into the set.  Two straight kills from Veon gave Geneva a 14-13 lead, but a 7-1 W&J run gave the Presidents a great chance to push the match to five sets, 20-15.  The Golden Tornadoes were able to regroup, though, following a timeout.  A kill by Veon, three straight kills by Neville and a kill from Peachey evened the match at 20-20.  After a W&J point, Geneva scored the next four points, with Byers and Neville contributing kills and Peachey another ace, to move the Golden Tornadoes to match point.  Fittingly, Neville finished the match off with a kill, 25-22.
 
Neville led the offense with those 18 kills, on a .333 hitting percentage.  Schmidt added nine kills, with Veon finishing with seven kills.  Peachey had 25 assists, 15 digs and five kills.  Junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) had a team-high 23 digs, with Wilson adding 20 assists.  Geneva finished the match with a .146 hitting percentage.  W&J finished at .190, but the Golden Tornadoes had 12 more kills than the Presidents.
 
"We're still looking for better consistency," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "To our credit tonight, we came through with key points when we needed them, but we had too many stretches where we didn't execute, and those are the stretches we need to eliminate.  This was a win that we needed, though, as our schedule gets much tougher the rest of the week."
 
Up next for Geneva is two of the top teams in the PAC, with a road trip to Chatham on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. match, followed by a home match on Thursday against a Westminster squad that is still undefeated in the conference.


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).