BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – This was not how the Geneva College men's volleyball team envisioned its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Semifinal matchup with Penn State Behrend going on Wednesday night, a team the Golden Tornadoes had beaten twice already this season.  Geneva could seemingly do nothing well all night, and the Lions led from start to finish in a 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 sweep.  Penn State Behrend advances to face top-seeded Hiram in the AMCC Championship match on Saturday, while Geneva sees its season end at 10-7.

Because Geneva's final regular season match of the year was cancelled against Medaille on Saturday, Geneva honored its lone graduating senior, Dan Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), before the game.  Townsend has been an all-conference performer his first two seasons, and he's well on his way to being an all-conference performer again this year.  Unfortunately for the Golden Tornadoes, Townsend's celebration before the match proved to be the highlight of the night.

The first set was close early until Penn State Behrend used a 5-1 run to take a 12-8 lead.  Geneva managed to rally and tie the set at 14-14, but the Lions used an 8-2 run to take control of the set, 22-16, and Penn State Behrend finished off the set 25-19.  The Lions hit .478 in the set as Geneva had no answers early for the Lions' attack.

The second set was close again early, but with the Golden Tornadoes leading 9-8, Penn State Behrend scored three straight points to retake the lead, 11-9.  Geneva, as it did all night, was forced to play from behind, and the Golden Tornadoes, because of hitting and service errors, could never put a run together.  With Penn State Behrend leading 18-17, the Lions scored four straight points and closed out the second set, 25-19.  Geneva hit -0.034 in the set.

The third set was more of the same, with the Golden Tornadoes playing from behind virtually the whole set.  The score was tied at 5-5 when Penn State Behrend scored three straight, and Geneva never led again.  The Golden Tornadoes managed to tie the score at 11-11, but the Lions went on a 7-2 run to take full control at 18-13, and Geneva just never looked right all night, falling 25-19.  Just the like the first set, Geneva couldn't control the Penn State Behrend attack, as the Lions finished with a .406 hitting percentage.

The final stat line was very ugly for the Golden Tornadoes in just about every facet.  Geneva managed just 22 kills the whole match, hitting 0.078.  Penn State Behrend finished with 43 kills on a .337 hitting percentage.  Geneva's best offense on the night was the Lions' 15 service errors.  Sophomore Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) led Geneva with seven kills.

"The first set started out poorly, and things only got worse from there," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "It's so disappointing to have arguably our worst performance all season in the most critical match of the year.  It's always our goal to be playing our best volleyball at the end of the season, and this was far from that.  We couldn't do anything well tonight.  I'm especially disappointed for Dan to go out like this, who has been such a rock for our program over the last three years.  He will be greatly missed."

Geneva will have at least one big hole to fill in its lineup with the graduation of Townsend, as Coach Conser and the Golden Tornadoes look ahead to the 2022 season.


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).