GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team continues to add wins to its resume, adding two more at Thiel on Tuesday night.  The Golden Tornadoes won the first match 25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 25-15.  In the nightcap, Geneva also won in four sets 25-15, 25-12, 24-26, 25-8.  Geneva improved to 7-1 overall, 4-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Thiel fell to 2-4 overall, 2-3 in the PAC.

Geneva jumped out to a big early lead in the first set of the first match, which was the only match of the two that counted in the PAC standings.  Senior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock) picked up two kills and an ace in helping Geneva take a 12-3 lead, and the Golden Tornadoes easily won the first set, 25-15, with Hunsinger providing the final kill of the set.

It was Thiel that jumped ahead early in set two, 7-4.  The Golden Tornadoes, though, used an 8-0 run midway through the set to appear to take control, 18-13, but Geneva faltered late.  With the Golden Tornadoes leading 21-16, the Tomcats finished the set on an 10-4 run, including the set's final four points, to win 26-24.

The Tomcats jumped out again in set three to a 7-4 lead.  Geneva regained the lead with five straight points, two on back-to-back aces from sophomore Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis).  Thiel responded with a 6-1 run to regain the lead 12-10, but the Golden Tornadoes answered with six straight points, including back-to-back kills from Hunsinger, and despite a late push by the Tomcats, Geneva held on for a 25-22 win.

Geneva left no doubt in the fourth set.  The Golden Tornadoes jumped ahead 8-2, and Thiel never got closer than four points the rest of the set.  Five straight Geneva points late gave the Golden Tornadoes match point at 24-12, and a kill from sophomore Olivia Moore (North Canton, Ohio/Lake Center Christian) finished off the match, 25-12.

Hunsinger added another triple-double to her career total, finishing with 23 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs.  Shook added seven kills and Moore six kills as Geneva got kills from nine different players.  Junior Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) had a match-high 28 digs.  Freshman Destiny Pratt (Aliquippa, Pa./Lincoln Park) provided a strong middle defense, finishing with a match-high seven blocks.

In the second match, Geneva scored ten straight points in the first set, two on back-to-back kills from freshman Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) to take an 11-4 lead.  Thiel would respond with a run to pull within 15-14, but Geneva finished the set on a 10-1 run, including back-to-back kills from freshman Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview), to win 25-15.

The second set was tight early until six straight Geneva points gave the Golden Tornadoes a 13-8 advantage.  Thiel scored the next two points, but Geneva finished the set on a 12-2 run, with Neville adding three more kills during the stretch, and Peachey closed the set with an ace, 25-12.

The third set stayed tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than three points.  The lead changed hands several times throughout the set.  Geneva had two match points at 24-22, but Thiel scored the set's final four points to win 26-24.

Thiel scored the first point of the fourth set, but Geneva quickly put things away by scoring 11 straight points.  Coughlin had back-to-back aces, while Neville added two more kills.  The Tomcats never threatened again, with Coughlin closing out the match with an ace, 25-8.

Neville finished with a career-high 13 kills, while Moore added 11 kills in the win.  Peachey almost reached a triple-double, finishing with 16 assists, 10 kills and six digs.  Coughlin had 14 digs and tied a career-high with seven aces.  Sophomore Alyssa Hunsinger (Oley, Pa./High Point Baptist Academy) chipped in with 11 digs.

"I thought we played pretty well," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "Thiel is a solid club, and they made us work.  I thought we let both of the sets we lost today get away from us, and we probably should have swept both matches.  Those are sets we have to close out.  But it was good again to see a number of players step up to give us a very balanced attack.  Daphne is playing at such a high level, but when we get contributions from a number of players like we did tonight, we can be tough to beat."

Geneva returns home on Saturday for a doubleheader with W&J beginning at 11:00 a.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 is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top 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.