WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Geneva College women's volleyball team battled but dropped a pair of matches on Friday night to two quality teams at the Pam Briggs Classic, hosted on the first night by Otterbein University.  Geneva dropped the first match to Heidelberg 20-25, 25-23, 14-25, 13-25.  The Golden Tornadoes dropped the nightcap to the hosts, Otterbein, 15-25, 23-25, 17-25.  Geneva's record is now 1-5, while Heidelberg and Otterbein are a combined 9-3.

Freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian) opened the first set against Heidelberg with an ace, but the Student Princes scored the next five points to jump ahead, and Heidelberg steadily increased its lead to 15-5.  With Geneva trailing 18-9, the Golden Tornadoes put together a six-point rally behind the serving of junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), pulling within 18-15, but that was as close as Geneva would get.  Heidelberg held on to close out the set, 25-20.

Freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) had three early kills in the second set to help Geneva jump out to a 5-3 lead.  The set went back-and-forth until Heidelberg scored five straight points to take a 14-11 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes battled back to tie the set, 18-18, on an ace by freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian).  The teams alternated the next eight points before Geneva put a three-point run together to get to 24-22, and after a Heidelberg point, a kill by Schmidt finished off the set, 25-23.

The third set went back and forth early, and after back-to-back kills by Wilson and sophomore Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley), Geneva pulled ahead 9-8.  Heidelberg scored the next three points, and the Student Princes slowly started to pull away.  A moment later, five straight points by Heidelberg increased the lead to 19-12, and the Student Princes closed out the set with four straight points, 25-14.

The fourth set was close early as well, with a kill by freshman Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) pulling Geneva to within 6-5.  However, Heidelberg once again went on a run, scoring seven straight points, and the Golden Tornadoes could never recover, dropping the final set 25-13.

Schmidt led the offense with ten kills, while also contributing 14 digs for a double-double.  Mummau and Veon each added six kills.  Wilson directed the offense with 19 assists, nine digs and three kills, while Townsend finished with a team-high 18 digs.  Geneva hit just .110, while Heidelberg finished with a .250 hitting percentage.

Geneva's penchant for giving up big runs continued in the second match of the day against the hosts, Otterbein.  A kill by Veon gave the Golden Tornadoes a 5-4 lead in the first set, but then disaster struck.  The Cardinals reeled off the next 13 points, and Otterbein took the first set easily, 25-15.

The second set didn't start off much better.  The Cardinals scored the first six points to put Geneva in an immediate hole, and Otterbein eventually extended its lead to 20-10.  The young Golden Tornadoes continued to battle, though, with freshman Zoe Pifer (Keyser, W.Va./Calvary Christian) serving Geneva to eight straight points, including two aces.  That pulled the Golden Tornadoes to within 20-18, and moments later, a kill by Veon and back-to-back aces from Mummau pulled Geneva even at 23-23.  Unfortunately, that's where Geneva's run ended, with Otterbein scoring the last two points to win the set, 25-23.

Geneva used a four-point run early in the third set to take a 6-3 lead, with Pifer providing another ace.  However, the Cardinals immediately responded with three straight points as part of an 11-3 run to take a 14-9 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes had an answer, though, with Schmidt coming up with three kills in a five-point run to tie the set at 15-15.  It was all Otterbein from there.  The Cardinals scored the next four points as part of a 10-2 run to finish out the set, and the match, 25-17.

Schmidt led Geneva with seven kills, while Mummau added six kills.  The Golden Tornadoes continued to struggle at the net, both offensively and defensively.  Geneva finished with an .057 hitting percentage, while Otterbein finished with an impressive .300 hitting percentage.  Wilson had 20 assists to lead the offense, while Townsend had 15 digs and Pifer 14 digs and four aces.

"We are still really struggling with consistency," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We are playing a lot of freshmen, and that inconsistency comes with the territory sometimes with so many new players playing key roles.  That's not an excuse, that's just the reality.  That said, I thought there was definite improvement from last week.  We played two strong programs today, and I thought we competed well with both of them.  We have much to work on, but I'm not leaving today disheartened."

Geneva gets right back into action tomorrow on the final day of the classic when it heads to Capital University for two matches.  The Golden Tornadoes face Capital at 10:00 a.m., followed by a match with Mount Union at 12:00 p.m. to close out play.


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).