STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Geneva College women's volleyball team dropped the first set at Franciscan on Thursday night, but the Golden Tornadoes responded to win the next three to prevail 3-1 (21-25, 25-12, 25-19, 30-28).  Geneva improved its record to 12-16 overall, 9-8 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Franciscan dropped to 3-16 overall, 2-15 in the PAC.

Franciscan was the better team early in the first set, with the Barons jumping out to a 10-6 lead.  Franciscan still led 15-12 when Geneva reeled off four straight points, the last on a service ace from freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian), to give the Golden Tornadoes a 16-15 edge.  The lead was short-lived, though, as Franciscan closed the set on a 10-5 run to win 25-21.

Geneva scored five straight early in the second set, with sophomore Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) picking up two aces and freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) contributing a kill to take an 8-4 lead.  After a Franciscan point, the Golden Tornadoes scored six straight points, starting with back-to-back kills from Mummau, to take a commanding 14-5 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes continued to extend their lead, with two kills by freshman Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) and an ace from Mummau giving Geneva a 21-8 lead, and the women easily closed out the set, 25-12.

The third set couldn't have started much worse for Geneva, with the Barons scoring seven straight points to take an 8-1 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes steadily began to chip away at the deficit, though, and after kills from Neville and Mummau, followed by an ace from Neville, Geneva pulled even at 16-16.  Franciscan followed with a point, but an ace by junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) and another kill by Veon was part of a four-point run to give the Golden Tornadoes a 20-17 lead, and Geneva easily closed out the set on back-to-back kills from Neville and sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty), 25-19.

Once again Franciscan jumped out to an early lead, 9-4, in set four.  A moment later, four straight Geneva points, with Peachey and Neville getting kills and Veon an ace, pulled the Golden Tornadoes within 10-9.  The Barons refused to relinquish the lead, though, and Franciscan appeared to be in good shape leading 23-20 when Geneva rallied.  Four straight points, with Townsend contributing an ace and sophomore Destiny Pratt (Columbus, Ohio/Lincoln Park) and Veon adding kills, gave the Golden Tornadoes a 24-23 lead, their first lead since 2-1.  The set went back-and-forth over the next couple of minutes, with each team having multiple set points before Geneva finished the match off with two straight points, 30-28, with freshman Zoe Pifer (Keyser, W.Va./Calvary Christian) contributing two late kills.

Veon led the team with 12 kills, while Neville and Mummau each added 10 kills apiece, with Geneva hitting .170 as a team.  Peachey finished with another strong match, leading the team with 33 assists while adding 10 digs and six kills.  Townsend contributed a team-high 24 digs to along with three aces.

Geneva finishes up its regular season on Saturday with a home match against Grove City at 12:00 p.m.  The Golden Tornadoes are already locked into the #6 seed for the playoffs, which will mean Geneva will play a road quarterfinal match on Tuesday.  The most likely opponent is either Chatham or Bethany.

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).