VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The opening day of the season for a very young Geneva College women's volleyball team at the Virginia Wesleyan Tournament didn't start well, but it ended well.  Geneva dropped the first match of the day to Meredith College in straight sets, 15-25, 23-25, 6-25.  However, the Golden Tornadoes bounced back to defeat Mount Aloysius College in the second match of the day in four sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-15. 
 
The first match of the day against Meredith represented the first collegiate contest for Geneva's eight freshmen, several of which were in the starting lineup, and it showed.  Sophomore Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) opened the first set with a kill, but it would prove to be Geneva's last lead of the set.  Meredith responded with a 6-2 run, and after the Golden Tornadoes pulled to within one, 7-6, the Avenging Angels reeled of five straight points to increase their lead to 12-6, and Geneva never got closer than five points the rest of the way.  Meredith finished off the set, 25-15.
 
The second set was the closest of the match.  Geneva actually jumped out to a 10-5 lead as Neville had two aces and freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) had three kills early on.  Meredith responded with a 9-1 run midway through the set to take a 17-13 lead.  Geneva evened the score at 17-17, but Meredith answered with four straight to go back up, 21-17.  The Golden Tornadoes continued to battle, eventually knotting the score at 23-23 after two Neville kills and an ace from freshman Zoe Pifer (Keyser, W.Va./Calvary Christian), but two Geneva errors ended the set, 25-23.
 
The third set was never close.  Meredith scored the first seven points and Geneva never responded, with the Avenging Angels running away with a dominant 25-6 win to finish off the sweep.
 
Freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) finished with five kills to lead Geneva, and Mummau was the only hitter to finish with a positive hitting percentage as the Golden Tornadoes hit -0.024 in a rough first match.  Freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian) had team-highs of nine assists and seven digs.
 
In the second match of the day against Mount Aloysius, it was the Mounties who actually took the first set.  Mount Aloysius jumped out to a 4-1 lead and forced Geneva to play from behind for the entire set.  The Golden Tornadoes pulled within a point, 6-5, on an ace by junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian), but the Mounties pushed the lead out to their biggest of the set, 16-10, and Geneva never got closer than three points the rest of way, eventually dropping the set 25-21.
 
Mount Aloysius again jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but this time Geneva's young squad responded.  Trailing 8-6, Geneva went on a 6-1 run, with Schmidt and Mummau each contributing kills.  The Golden Tornadoes continued to build upon their lead, eventually extending it to 22-14.  Mount Aloysius had a late run, but a kill by Schmidt and an ace from Neville finished off the set, 25-21.
 
Geneva scored six straight points early in the third set to take an early 6-1 lead, with Mummau contributing three kills early on, and the Golden Tornadoes never let Mount Aloysius into the set.  Geneva continued to build on their lead the entire way, taking its biggest lead of the set, 23-11, after back-to-back kills from freshman Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk).  Mummau finished off the set, 25-14, with an ace.
 
The fourth set went back-and-forth early on, with Mount Aloysius taking an early 10-8 lead.  Geneva scored six straight, though, behind the serving of Townsend, the last two points coming on aces, and the Mounties never challenged again.  In fact, the Golden Tornadoes finished the set on a 17-5 run to finish off the match, 25-15.
 
Mummau led the team with 12 kills, while Schmidt added 11 kills on an impressive .450 hitting percentage.  Veon added seven kills and three blocks.  Wilson led the team with 22 assists, while sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) added 13 assists.  Townsend was all over the floor defensively, contributing a career-high 22 digs, along with four aces.  Geneva hit .169 as a team.
 
"We obviously really struggled in the first match," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We have a lot of freshmen who are playing big minutes for us, and I could tell they were nervous.  But we made some changes going into the second match, including moving Maggie Townsend to libero, and our team played much better.  We're really young, so I'm sure there's going to be some up and down moments early in this season, but you can see the talent these newcomers have.  These are all important learning moments for this team."
 
Geneva finishes its play in Virginia with two matches tomorrow.  The Golden Tornadoes take on the hosts, Virginia Wesleyan, at 10:00 a.m., and then finish up with a match against Southern Virginia at 2:00 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 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).