PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team knew it was going to have its hands full on the opening day of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Invitational, hosted by Trinity Christian College.  That challenge was many even more difficult when two of Geneva's top starters didn't travel with the team because of COVID protocols.  The Golden Tornadoes dropped both of their matches, first to the hosts Trinity Christian (25-7, 25-18, 25-21), and later in the day to Ottawa University Arizona (25-15, 25-17, 25-10).  Geneva's record is now 1-4.

The Golden Tornadoes entered the tournament seeded third out of five teams, with the invitational consisting of each team playing the other four teams.  Geneva opened Friday with the top two seeds at the invitational in Ottawa, the top seed, and Trinity Christian, the second seed.  Both schools play in the NAIA and thus have scholarship athletes that make up their rosters.

Things couldn't have started much more poorly for the Golden Tornadoes in their first match against Trinity Christian, who is ranked #23 in the preseason NAIA poll.  The Trolls scored the first seven points before a kill from junior Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) finally got Geneva on the board.  The Golden Tornadoes could never find a rhythm, though, and Trinity Christian cruised through the first set, winning 25-7.

Geneva rebounded and played better in the second set, taking its first lead of the match when a kill by freshman Decker Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) gave the Golden Tornadoes a brief 6-5 lead.  Trinity Christian answered with a 6-2 run, though, to take an 12-8 lead, and Geneva never got closer than three points the rest of the way, losing the set 25-18.

The Golden Tornadoes fell into a big early hole in the third set, falling behind 8-1.  Geneva did manage to battle back into the set, pulling within two points, 12-10.  However, Trinity Christian never let the Golden Tornadoes get any closer in closing out the match, 25-21.

Sophomore Emerson Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) led the team with six kills, while Williams added five kills.  The Golden Tornadoes struggled with their hitting, finishing with just 19 kills on a .042 hitting percentage.  Williams had a team-high 10 digs, while junior Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage) led the offense with 15 assists.  Trinity Christian, on the other hand, finished with 39 kills and hit .318 as a team.

The second match of the day provided even tougher test against an Ottawa squad that is ranked #13 in the NAIA.  The Golden Tornadoes hung with the Spirit early in the first set, though, taking a 3-1 lead with Spear providing an early kill.  Geneva was still within 11-10 when Ottawa pulled away.  The Spirit finished the set on a 14-5 run to win 25-15.

The Golden Tornadoes took an early lead in the second set as well, 4-1, with junior Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) picking two kills.  His third kill of the set gave Geneva a 5-4 lead before Ottawa took its first lead of the set with a 6-1 run.  The Spirit steadily pulled away from there for a 25-17 victory.

For the third time in the match, Geneva took an early lead again, 3-1, behind an ace from Williams and a kill from Milroy.  Ottawa responded with an 8-3 run to take a 9-6 lead, though, and after a kill from Thomas, the Spirit finished off the match on a 16-3 run, winning the set 25-10.

Byron Spear played well in the second match, leading the team with 10 kills and six digs.  Thomas had 19 assists.  The Golden Tornadoes again struggled hitting, finishing with 21 kills and hitting .000, with their ball control not providing enough good opportunities for kills.  Ottawa had 38 kills on a .366 hitting percentage.

"We knew today was going to be tough, even if we had all our guys," said Head Coach Curt Conser.  "Both these teams have some high-level players, and we faced several Division 1 athletes today.  So there were definitely some rough stretches today, but I thought at other times we really competed well.  Byron especially played well today.  Even though we lost both matches, I thought we showed improvement in our play over last weekend, even without all our guys.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to bounce back and be more successful."

Geneva finishes off play at the NCCAA Invitational tomorrow with a match against Central Christian at 10:30 a.m., followed by a match against Maranatha Baptist at 3:30 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).