HIRAM, Ohio – The men's volleyball matchup on Tuesday night between Geneva and Hiram represented a battle for first place, with the two squads the last two teams in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) that had yet to lose.  It was Hiram who was the better team on this night, coming up with the plays late to win the first two sets and then cruising in the third set for a 25-23, 25-22, 25-13 victory.  Hiram improved to 7-1 overall, 6-0 in the AMCC, while a short-handed Geneva had its seven-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 9-6, 4-1 in the AMCC.

The first set was the one that probably hurt the most for the Golden Tornadoes.  Hiram scored the first two points before Geneva responded with four straight points, two on kills from sophomore Wes Hoge (Venetia, Pa./Seton LaSalle).  The Golden Tornadoes would lead almost the whole set, stretching their lead to as much as 12-6 midway through the set.  The Terriers did manage to tie the set at 16-16, but Geneva quickly regained a 22-18 lead and looked to be poised to take the first set.  However, Hiram scored the next five points as part of a 7-1 run to close out the set, 25-23.  Geneva actually hit .385 in the set, but still couldn't close things out.  Hiram hit .324.

It was Hiram that jumped out early in the second set, taking a 5-2 lead.  The Terriers built their lead as high as 16-10 before Geneva mounted a comeback.  Three kills by senior Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) helped the Golden Tornadoes come all the way back to tie the set at 19-19.  Unfortunately, once again Hiram made the plays late.  With the Terriers leading 23-22, Hiram scored the last two points to take the second set, 25-22.  Hiram had another high hitting percentage, improving to .359, while Geneva hit .222.

The Golden Tornadoes actually jumped ahead early in the third set, 7-4, with Townsend, junior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) and sophomore Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) each contributing two kills in the early run.  However, things fell apart quickly.  Hiram scored seven straight points, and the Terriers dominated the rest of the set.  Geneva couldn't contain the Hiram attack, and the Terriers easily closed out the match, 25-13, while hitting an even better .480, compared to .077 for the Golden Tornadoes.

Barbato and Townsend led the way with nine kills apiece, while Spear added seven kills.  The big story of the night was Geneva's inability to mount any block to counter Hiram's hitters.  The Golden Tornadoes managed just one block all night, and Hiram finished the match with a .376 hitting percentage.  Hiram's Tom Supan, the Preseason Player of the Year in the AMCC, led the Terriers with 21 kills.

"We just got beat tonight," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "They got the better of us in serve-receive and in hitting, and you can't lose both of those and expect to win matches.  Give credit to Hiram who served really well, and we didn't handle their serve, which got us out of system a little bit.  And our block was non-existent tonight.  We knew they wanted to set the pins, and we prepared for that, but we just didn't do anything to slow down their outsides.  They were the better team and they deserved to win.  Against good teams, you have to make them play poorly, and we didn't come anywhere close to that tonight.  All that said, we're still in a pretty solid shape.  If we bounce back and take care of our business, we'll be in a good position come playoffs.  But we have to play a whole lot better than we did tonight."

The victory for Hiram clinches the #1 seed in the AMCC playoffs and makes the postseason much clearer.  Geneva heads to last-place Hilbert tomorrow night for a 7:00 p.m. matchup.  The Golden Tornadoes then finish the regular season with a home match against Medaille on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.  Those two teams are tied for second in the AMCC, so the winner clinches the #2 seed in the playoffs and will host the other team in the AMCC semifinals.  Hiram will host the winner of Saturday's Penn State Altoona and Penn State Behrend match in the other semifinal matchup, slated to begin next Wednesday, April 7.


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).