VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – It was a tough day for the Geneva College women's volleyball team as it finished up its play at the Virginia Wesleyan Tournament, and the Golden Tornadoes found little success against the two undefeated teams they faced.  In the first match of the day against the hosts, Virginia Wesleyan, Geneva lost in straight sets 18-25, 12-25, 16-25.   The Golden Tornadoes also fell in three sets in the second match of the day against Southern Virginia by a score of 11-25, 12-25, 16-25.  Geneva's record now stands at 1-3 on the season, while Virginia Wesleyan and Southern Virginia are a combined 7-0.

In the first match of the day, Virginia Wesleyan jumped ahead early in the first set, scoring the first five points, putting Geneva in an immediate hole, and the Golden Tornadoes could never recover.  The Marlins stretched their lead to 20-13 before four straight Geneva points, including three straight aces from junior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) pulled the Golden Tornadoes to within 20-17.  However, Virginia Wesleyan closed out the set on a 5-1 run to take the first set, 25-18.

Geneva took a 4-3 lead early in set two behind another ace from Townsend and a kill from freshmen Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk), the only lead of the match in any set for the Golden Tornadoes.  However, Virginia Wesleyan quickly took over the set by scoring ten straight points as Geneva struggled to get a side out.  The Marlins cruised from there to a 25-12 win in the set.

The third set proved much of the same.  Trailing 3-2 after a kill from freshman Lydia Wilson (New Springfield, Ohio/Heartland Christian), Geneva saw Virginia Wesleyan stretch out a big lead once again.  The Marlins went on a 10-3 run to take a 13-5 lead, and the Golden Tornadoes never got closer than six points the rest of the way, dropping the final set, 25-16.

The stats bore out the gap between the two teams in the match.  Veon led the offense with six kills, but Geneva finished with a .000 hitting percentage compared to Virginia Wesleyan's .205 hitting percentage.  Sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) had a team high nine assists, while Townsend led the team with 12 digs and four aces.

Geneva then took on Southern Virginia to close out play at the tournament, and the Golden Tornadoes found another opponent too tough to handle for this young squad.  A kill by freshman Calyne Schmidt (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) and a block by Veon evened the score early in the first set, 4-4.  However, Southern Virginia reeled off six straight points, and after a Geneva point, the Knights added four more points to take a 14-5 lead, and Southern Virginia easily closed out the set, 25-11.

Another block by Veon and a kill from freshman Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) gave the Golden Tornadoes an early 7-5 lead in the second set.  Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived.  Southern Virginia scored nine straight points midway through the set to take command, and the Knights finished off the second set, 25-12, on a 17-3 run.

That momentum carried over to the third set, with Southern Virginia scoring the first five points, and Geneva never got closer than three points the rest of the way.  The Knights closed out the set, and the match, 25-16.

Geneva again struggled on the attack, finishing the match with a -.028 hitting percentage, producing just 15 kills.  Schmidt had four kills to lead the team.  Wilson had a team-high nine assists, Mummau and Veon each had three blocks, and Townsend finished with 18 digs.  Southern Virginia finished with an impressive .354 hitting percentage, leading to its domination of the match.

"The two teams we faced are very good teams," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We're a very young squad that is still trying to find our confidence and our rhythm, and we have lots of improvement ahead of us.  We obviously want to win every time we step on the court, but these early-season tournaments give us the opportunity to play teams that will expose areas we need to get better, and this weekend definitely did that.  We know that we need to get better in every area if we want to win matches consistently."

Geneva heads to another challenging tournament next weekend when the Golden Tornadoes play four times, twice on Friday and twice on Saturday, at the Pam Briggs Classic hosted jointly by Otterbein and Capital University.


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).