BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team made quick work of a rebuilding Thiel Tomcat squad on Saturday afternoon in Metheny Fieldhouse, sweeping Thiel 25-12, 25-18, 25-14.  Geneva improved to 6-5 overall, 2-0 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), while Thiel fell to 0-4 overall, 0-2 in the AMCC.

Geneva used seven straights in the first set to go ahead 13-4, with freshman Emerson Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and junior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) each contributing back-to-back kills in the run.  The Golden Tornadoes stretched their lead to as much as 18-7 on a kill from senior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) before finishing off the 25-14 victory on another kill from Barbato.

The second set stayed close early until four straight Geneva points gave the Golden Tornadoes a 16-11 lead.  The Tomcats managed to pull within 18-16, but three straight kills from sophomore Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin), freshman Carter Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) and sophomore Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) pushed the lead back to five points, and Williams finished off the set with an ace, 25-18.

Geneva used a 5-1 run midway into the third set to give the Golden Tornadoes a 14-8 lead.  Sophomore Devin Goodgasell (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) had back-to-back kills in the stretch.  A moment later, sophomore Wes Hoge (Venetia, Pa./Seton LaSalle) contributed a block and a kill in five-point run to extend Geneva's lead to 19-9, and the Golden Tornadoes closed out the match 25-14.

Williams led the team with seven kills on a .462 hitting percentage.  Byron Spear added six kills on a .417 hitting percentage, while Barbato had five kills on an .833 hitting percentage.  Townsend also had five kills on a .444 hitting percentage to go with a team-high six digs.  Sophomore Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Heritage Christian Academy) had 15 assists, while senior Matthew Slater (Butler, Pa./Butler) added 13 assists.  Hoge led the team with six blocks.  As a team Geneva hit .366.

"This was a match that enabled us to get a number of guys some playing time that have been working hard in practice," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "I thought we got good contributions from a number of those guys, and our veterans played well also."

Geneva is back in action on Tuesday with a home match against Alderson Broaddus at 7:00 p.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.