ERIE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team captured a big 3-1 victory at Penn State Behrend on Saturday afternoon, winning 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 26-24.  The win was Geneva's seventh straight and improved its record to 9-5 overall, 4-0 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), while Penn State Behrend fell to 3-5, 2-3 in the AMCC.

Geneva opened the first set on an early run, pulling ahead 5-1.  The Golden Tornadoes extended their lead to 10-4 before Penn State Behrend strung together three straight points.  Geneva answered with six straight points, starting with kills from sophomore Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin), junior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) and sophomore Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills).  That gave the Golden Tornadoes a 17-8 lead, and Geneva closed out the set 25-18 on another kill from Barbato.

The second set was a struggle for the Golden Tornadoes, who had several hitting errors.  With the score tied at 4-4, Penn State Behrend went on a 10-2 run, with Geneva errors accounting for five Lions points in the run.  The Golden Tornadoes never got closer than five points the rest of the way, and Penn State Behrend won the set 25-19.  Geneva hit -0.032 in the set.

The third set went back and forth for the first several minutes, and the score was tied at 10-10 midway into the set.  Geneva responded with a 5-1 run, with kills from freshman Emerson Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and senior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), along with two blocks from Byron Spear and freshman Carter Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways), that led the way.  A few minutes later, a Lions 5-1 run tied the score back up at 20-20, and after each team scored a point, the Golden Tornadoes scored the last four points, three coming on kills from Milroy, Barbato and sophomore Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Heritage Christian Academy), to win the set 25-21.

The fourth set was tight the whole way.  The lead changed hands multiple times, with neither team leading by more than three points.  The score was tied at 20-20, 22-22, and 24-24, but a kill from Milroy and a Lion attack error ended the match, 26-24.

Barbato led the offense with 14 kills, while also contributing 13 digs, and Milroy was also big with 11 kills and eight blocks.  Byron Spear added eight kills, while Townsend finished with six kills and a team-high 15 digs.  Williams added five kills and 11 digs, and Thomas finished with 38 assists.

Geneva's block was particularly strong in the match, finishing with 12 blocks overall while holding Penn State Behrend to an .081 hitting percentage.  The Golden Tornadoes hit .164.

"Penn State Behrend was fighting for their playoff lives, and it showed with the way they played," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "They fought us tooth and nail the whole way, which resulted in some really long rallies.  It made for some exciting volleyball, although probably more than I would have preferred.  I thought overall we played pretty well.  We did not hit well at all in the second set, but otherwise I was pleased with our performance.  Carter was big for us, especially at the net, but we got contributions from a number of players that helped us earn this win."

The victory sets up a huge match on Wednesday when Geneva travels to Hiram for a 7:00 p.m. start.  Both teams are currently undefeated in the AMCC, with the winner the likely top seed for the AMCC playoffs.  Hiram defeated Geneva in five sets earlier this season in a non-conference match.


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.