BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It was a tough way for the Geneva College women's volleyball team to see its season come to an end in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Semifinals.  Playing without two key players who were held out because of COVID protocols, the Golden Tornadoes never could get on track and dropped their playoff match to Grove City on Tuesday night in straight sets 25-16, 25-18, 25-16.  Grove City, the third seed in the playoffs, advances to take on top-seed Westminster on Thursday night for the PAC Championship, while Geneva, the second seed entering the playoffs, sees its season come to an abrupt end with a 10-2 record.  The loss broke a 31-game Geneva winning streak against the Wolverines, with the last time Grove City prevailed in a match between these two schools in 2000.

As one might have expected, Geneva looked out of sync most of the match, playing a Grove City team it had just defeated less than a week earlier.  Grove City scored four straight points early in the first set, taking a 7-3 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes answered a couple minutes later with four straight points behind the serving of freshman Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) and kills from freshman Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley), sophomore Olivia Moore (North Canton, Ohio/Lake Center Christian) and junior Elana Hoppel (Castorland, N.Y./Lowville Academy and Central), to even the set at 10-10.  Unfortunately, from then on Grove City controlled the set.  The Wolverines responded with a 6-2 run, and after two Geneva points, the Wolverines finished off the set on a 9-2 run, including six straight points in one stretch, to win 25-16.

Geneva scored the first point of the second set, the first lead it had taken so far in the match, but things spiraled out of control quickly.  With Geneva trailing 6-4, Grove City scored nine straight points as part of a 12-1 run, going ahead 18-5.  The Golden Tornadoes did begin to find some things that started working, though, over the next few minutes.  Hoppel had three kills and Moore two kills in a run that pulled Geneva within 23-17, but Grove City closed out the set, 25-18.

Despite the loss, that momentum seemed to carry over to start the third set, as Geneva jumped out to an 8-4 lead behind three kills from Hoppel.  The next few minutes proved to be a stretch of runs.  The Wolverines answered with an 8-2 to run to retake a 12-10 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes responded with a 5-1 run, with Moore contributing two kills, to go back ahead, 15-13.  Unfortunately, things once again went downhill quickly.  Grove City scored three straight, and after a point for Geneva tied the set at 16-16, the Wolverines scored the final nine points of the set to finish off the match, 25-16.

Hoppel led Geneva with nine kills, while Moore added eight.  Grove City held significant edges in most categories, especially at the net where the Wolverines finished with 40 kills on a .243 hitting percentage, while the Golden Tornadoes finished with 30 kills on an .073 hitting percentage.  Peachey finished with 27 assists, while junior Kayla Coughlin (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) finished with 13 digs.

"This is a really tough pill to swallow," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "Sometimes life just isn't fair, and that's certainly been the case for a lot of people who have had to deal with far greater issues regarding COVID than this.  But to not have Daphne, our only senior and the best player in the conference, along with one of our best defensive specialists in Alyssa, and only have one day to practice and figure out how to realign ourselves, it was just too much to ask.  I'm really sad for our team to see such a promising season end this way."

Geneva loses just one senior from this year's roster, but it's a huge one in senior Daphne Hunsinger (Harleysville, Pa./Christopher Dock), last year's PAC Player of the Year and one of the best women's volleyball players to ever wear a Geneva uniform.


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).