LATROBE, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team came away with a split in a tri-match at Saint Vincent on Saturday afternoon.  In the first match of the day, the Golden Tornadoes fell down early against Chatham, and their comeback fell short 11-25, 12-25, 25-23, 22-25.  In the second match against the hosts Saint Vincent, Geneva swept the Bearcats 25-19, 25-17, 25-20.  Geneva's record is now 5-11 overall, 2-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).

In the first match against Chatham, not much went well in the first set after the opening point.  A kill by junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) opened the match, but it was all Cougars from there in the set.  Chatham jumped to a 12-5 lead, and Geneva never could back into the set, losing 25-11.

Things didn't go much better in the second set.  A kill by freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) opened the set, but five straight points by Chatham gave the Cougars the lead back.  Geneva did pull within 7-6, but seven straight Chatham points gave the Cougars a big lead, and they easily closed out the set, 25-12.

Geneva began to play better in the third set, and the first half of the set stayed close, with neither team leading by more than two points.  With the score tied at 14-14, Geneva put together its best stretch of the match to that point by scoring five straight.  However, Chatham rallied to tie the score at 22-22 before the Golden Tornadoes finished the set on a 3-1 run to win, 25-23.

The women carried that momentum into the fourth set.  With Geneva leading 5-3, the Golden Tornadoes scored six straight points, with freshman Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) contributing two kills, sophomore Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) a kill and freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian) an ace to take an 11-3 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes looked to be in full control after they pushed their lead to 18-6 before everything fell apart.  As easily as Geneva was scoring points early, it flipped almost completely against the Golden Tornadoes, and they couldn't get out of their spiral.  Chatham closed the set on a 19-4 run, which included eight straight points at one point, and Geneva lost the final set, 25-22, in stunning fashion.

Neville and sophomore Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) led Geneva with eight kills, with Neville adding 12 digs.  Townsend contributed six kills and a team-high 25 digs.  Sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) led the offense with 16 assists, along with 12 digs.  Geneva hit just 0.063 in the set compared to Chatham's .225 hitting percentage.

In the second match against Saint Vincent, the Golden Tornadoes had better success early.  A kill by Neville and a block by Byers gave Geneva an early 3-1 lead.  The match went back-and-forth over the next few minutes before kills by Byers and Neville extended the Golden Tornado lead to 11-7.  Saint Vincent battled back to tie the set, but four straight Geneva points, with Neville and freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) contributing kills, gave the Golden Tornadoes a 20-15 lead, and Geneva finished off the set, 25-19.

Geneva jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set, with Schmidt contributing a couple of early kills.  The Golden Tornadoes continued to build its lead out, and after four straight points, Geneva took a commanding 17-8 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes extended their lead to as much as 22-12 on an ace from Mummau before finishing off the set, 25-17.

The Golden Tornadoes pushed ahead early in the third set as well, with Schmidt contributing four early kills, and after an ace by Wilson and kill by Veon, Geneva led 8-4.  The Bearcats would battle back, pulling to within one point, 14-13, before four straight points, with Veon coming up with two blocks in the stretch, gave Geneva an 18-13 lead.  Saint Vincent wouldn't get closer than three points the rest of the way as the Golden Tornadoes finished off the match, 25-20.

Schmidt tied her career-high with 13 kills in the win.  Veon added 10 kills and six blocks, while Neville added nine kills.  Wilson led the team with 18 assists, while Townsend had 31 digs.  Geneva hit .206 in the win, while Saint Vincent finished with an 0.050 hitting percentage.

"We saw a lot of the same things we've seen all year today," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We had moment where we were really good, but moments where we were really bad.  We've got to figure out a way to limit those bad stretches, because they make it hard to overcome to win sets.  I was glad to see us respond to a tough end against Chatham and play well to pick up the win against Saint Vincent."

Geneva returns home on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. match with Thiel in Metheny Fieldhouse.

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).