BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – In what could be a preview of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) women's volleyball championship match next month, the Geneva College women's volleyball team hosted Westminster on Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes let two sets gets away from them late in the first match, which was the critical match of the doubleheader, and it cost them as Geneva fell in five sets to the Titans 25-18, 23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 12-15.  The Golden Tornadoes did rebound in the second match of the day, sweeping Westminster 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 in match filled with many reserves on each side.  Geneva's record is now 4-1 overall, 2-1 in the PAC, while Westminster is 3-1 overall, 3-0 in the PAC.

The COVID-shortened season brought a few different scheduling quirks to teams in the PAC this season.  One is that teams were given the option to play a doubleheader with teams, but if teams chose to do that, only the first match of the doubleheader would count towards the conference standings.  So when the two teams squared off in the first match, with both teams figuring to be arguably the top two teams in the conference, the winner would earn itself the inside track for the top spot in the regular season standings, which would ensure that team homecourt advantage throughout the PAC Playoffs.  With that as the backdrop, the game did not lack in intensity, with the feel of a PAC Championship match.

Sophomore Olivia Moore (North Canton, Ohio/Lake Center Christian) and junior Elana Hoppel (Castorland, N.Y./Lowville Academy and Central) picked up early kills in the first set, and after an ace by sophomore Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), Geneva went ahead 4-1.  Westminster would try to claw its way back into the set, but the Golden Tornadoes always had an answer, never letting the Titans pull even.  Westminster was able to get within one point on multiple occasions, the last time at 19-18, but Geneva finished with a flurry.  The Golden Tornadoes scored the last six points of the set, with Moore, freshman Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and senior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christoher Dock) each picking up kills in the run to win the set, 25-18.

Kills by Moore and Hoppel were part of three straight Geneva points to open the second set, with the Golden Tornadoes once again playing from ahead most of the set.  The Titans would pull even multiple times before Westminster took its first lead of the match at 12-11.  Geneva responded with a four-point run, with Hoppel picking up two kills and Moore another kill, to regain the lead for the Golden Tornadoes.  The Titans would fight their way back into the lead a few minutes later, 21-20, before Geneva answered with three straight points, two on kills by Moore, to put the Golden Tornadoes within reach of a two-set lead in the match.  Unfortunately, Geneva couldn't close it out, with Westminster rallying for the last four points to steal the set away.  That one hurt, but probably not as badly as the next set would.

The third set followed a similar script, with Geneva taking an early lead.  Kills by Moore and Hunsinger, followed by another ace from Townsend, extended the Golden Tornado lead to 12-8.  Westminster would rally, though, using a 7-1 run to take a 21-18 lead late.  Geneva answered with seven straight points behind the service of junior Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), whose serve frustrated the Titans all day, and three more kills from Moore.  The Golden Tornadoes were on the cusp of a 2-1 set lead at 24-21, but once again Geneva faltered late.  Westminster fought off three set points and won the final five points of the set, stealing away its second straight set in the match, 26-24.

Westminster got out to an early lead in the fourth set, 6-4, before Geneva put together one of its best stretches of the day.  The Golden Tornadoes went on a 12-2 run, including six straight behind the serving of Townsend.  Moore and Hoppel both had two kills in the run, while Coughlin added an ace.  Despite jumping ahead 16-8, though, Geneva couldn't close out the set very easily.  The Titans immediately responded with a 9-1 run to tie the score at 17-17 before Geneva answered right back with five straight points to push back ahead, 22-17.  This time the Golden Tornadoes managed to close out the set, but it wasn't easy.  With Geneva leading 24-19, Westminster fought off four straight set points before Peachey end the set with a kill, 25-23.

Unfortunately for Geneva, the one set where the Golden Tornadoes didn't play from ahead for most of the set proved to be the fifth, which in a shortened final set, makes it tough to survive.  The Titans jumped ahead to leads of 4-1 and 8-3.  Geneva battled the whole set, though, using a 4-1 run late to pull within 13-12 after back-to-back kills from freshman Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) and junior Hannah Dusse (Plant City, Fla./Lakeland Christian), but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't figure out a way to prevail late.  Westminster earned the last two points of the set to finish things off, 15-12, with the match containing all the intensity of a postseason contest.

Moore finished with a career-high 21 kills on a .293 hitting percentage, while Hoppel and Dusse each added 10 kills, with Dusse's total also being a career-high.  Hunsinger narrowly missed another triple-double, finishing with 41 assists, 13 digs and nine kills.  Coughlin had a team-high 29 digs.  Geneva finished the match with a .164 hitting percentage, while Westminster finished a little better at .190.  The Golden Tornadoes struggled to contain Westminster's talented duo of Becky Adelman and Maya Steward, who finished with 20 and 17 kills, respectively.

After the intensity of the first match, the teams took 30 minutes off and allowed most of their reserves to get significant playing time in the second match.  Geneva led most of the way in the first set, using a 10-4 run to take an early 12-7 lead.  A moment later, a 5-1 Golden Tornado run extended Geneva's lead to 17-10, and a kill from freshman Destiny Pratt (Aliquippa, Pa./Lincoln Park) closed out the set, 25-18.

The Titans scored seven straight points early in the second set to take a 7-2 lead, and Westminster held that lead until Geneva scored five straight points behind the serving of Peachey to take its first lead since the opening points, 16-15.  The Titans would regain the lead 18-17, but Hoppel served Geneva to seven straight points, and a moment later a Titan service error gave the Golden Tornadoes the set, 25-20.

Geneva opened the third set well, jumping out to an 8-2 lead with Moore leading the charge with four kills.  A moment later, five straight points off the serve of Townsend were part of a 7-1 run that extended the Golden Tornado lead to 15-5.  Westminster did have one last run in it, pulling to within 21-20 late, but Geneva held on, with sophomore Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) delivering the final kill of the match, 25-22.

Moore led the offense again with nine kills, while Shook, Neville and Pratt each added eight kills in a balanced attack in which every Golden Tornado played.  Peachey led the team with 19 assists and 15 digs.

"The first match had all the intensity you would expect a Westminster versus Geneva match to have," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We put ourselves in position to sweep the match, but you have to find a way to finish out sets, and we couldn't do that today.  It's a frustrating feeling when you feel like you let one slip away.  Westminster deserves credit for battling back in those sets, and against a very good team like that, you have to earn the win late.  They're not going to give it to you.  So it was a good learning experience for our team, especially for a lot of our young players, and I was pleased that we were able to bounce back and sweep the second match with a lot of those younger players leading the way."

Geneva will be back in action in Friday when the Golden Tornadoes travel to Franciscan for a single match beginning at 6:00 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.