BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball home doubleheader against Bethany on Tuesday night got off to a great start, with the Golden Tornadoes winning the first two sets in the first match with the Bison, but things fell part from there as Bethany won the final six sets of the night to take both matches.  Bethany won the first match 16-25, 20-25, 25-16, 28-26, 15-9, and then the Bison swept match two by a score of 25-20, 25-15, 29-27.  Bethany improved to 14-10 overall, 11-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva dropped to 11-16 overall, 8-8 in the PAC.

This doubleheader came about because Geneva's original home match with Bethany on October 2 was postponed because of COVID protocols within the Bison program, so with limited dates remaining in the season, the two schools agreed to play a doubleheader on Tuesday night to get both of their matches in.  Both teams had already clinched a postseason playoff spot, with these matches giving both schools an opportunity to move up in the standings.

Geneva opened the first match playing some of its best volleyball of the season, with the women controlling the opening two sets.  Freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) led the way in the first set, as the Golden Tornadoes led essentially from start to finish.  Schmidt finished with six kills in the set as Geneva hit .302 as a team in winning 25-16.  The Golden Tornadoes had 15 kills and just two errors.

The second set brought more of the same.  Sophomores Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) and Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty), along with freshmen Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) and Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian), each had three kills apiece in the set, with the Golden Tornadoes again leading virtually the whole set in winning 25-20.  Geneva hit an even better .364 with 13 kills and two errors in the set.

As has been the case for much of the year, though, errors became a problem in the third set, including hitting errors, receiving errors and service errors.  Bethany jumped out to a big lead early and cruised to a 25-16 victory, with Geneva hitting -.091 percent with six kills and nine hitting errors, along with three service errors.

The fourth set was the crucial set of the whole night.  Geneva rebounded from the rough third set and used eight straight points behind the servicing of Peachey to take a commanding 17-9 lead, putting the Golden Tornadoes on the brink of winning the first match.  Unfortunately, as has too often been the case this season with this young squad, Geneva struggled late and allowed Bethany back into the set.  The Golden Tornadoes still had two match points at 24-22, but three straight Geneva service errors late were crucial as Bethany came back to win the set, 28-26, sending the match to a final fifth set.

Geneva never could rebound from the damaging loss in the fourth set, and Bethany jumped out to an early lead and led basically the whole way in closing out the comeback victory, 15-9.

Schmidt led the way with 13 kills, while Neville added 12 kills and Mummau 10 kills.  Veon hit well with nine kills on a .529 hitting percentage, but the team finished with just a .191 hitting percentage after such a strong first two sets.

Peachey nearly had her first career triple-double, finishing with 22 assists, 18 digs and seven kills.  Junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) was all over the court defensively, finishing with a career-high 37 digs, while Neville had a career-high 16 digs.  Freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian) added 20 assists.

The downside to playing two matches back-to-back is that when a team loses a heartbreaker in the first match, it becomes tough mentally to turn around and rebound so quickly, and that proved to be the case for Geneva in the second match.

The first set was close early, but too many Geneva errors proved too much to overcome, with Bethany winning 25-20 after Geneva hit .000 percent.  The second set didn't get any better, with the Bison leading the whole way in winning 25-15.  The Golden Tornadoes finished with a .100 hitting percentage in set two.

Geneva did try to rally in the third set, taking a 20-17 lead at one point, but like the first match, the Golden Tornadoes couldn't find a way to finish out a close set.  Geneva did manage to get two set points late in the set, but Bethany scored the final three points to finish off the match, 29-27.

Schmidt had nine kills to lead Geneva, with the Golden Tornadoes hitting just .085 in the match.  Peachey had a team-high 22 assists, while Townsend led the way with 19 digs.

"This was just sort of a microcosm of our season in a lot of way," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "You can see the talent we have, and we have the ability to play with and beat the top teams in the conference.  But we just have too many lapses of inconsistency where an error occurs late and things just snowball.  I'm still trying to figure out how get this team through that mental barrier, because it just seems like at key moments we can't come through with the big points.  I know we're young and this is all part of the learning experience, but we are still looking for players to step up and take that leadership role, especially late, when we need a key point."

The losses almost certainly lock Geneva into the #6 seed heading into the playoffs.  The Golden Tornadoes finish their regular season with a road game at Franciscan on Thursday and a home match against Grove City on Saturday.  Geneva will then have a road quarterfinal match next Tuesday against whoever finishes as the #3 seed in the conference.  It's very possible that could be this same Bethany team Geneva faced tonight.

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).