BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team put together an impressive performance on Senior Night, sweeping visiting Franciscan 28-26, 25-10, 25-19 on Thursday evening inside Metheny Fieldhouse.  Prior to the match, Geneva honored seniors Natalie Parra, Hope Shook and Maggie Townsend, who were competing in the last home match of their careers.  With the victory, Geneva improved to 9-16 overall, 3-7 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).

Franciscan came into the match playing its best volleyball of the season, coming off a four-set victory over Grove City and a five-set loss to Saint Vincent, two of the top teams in the PAC, and the Barons had the better of the play early.  Franciscan scored the first four points of the match, forcing Geneva to play from behind. 

The Golden Tornadoes managed to pull even at 7-7 after a kill from junior Savannah Byers, but Franciscan scored the next three points to reestablish a lead.  That proved to be a similar pattern over the next several minutes.  The Golden Tornadoes managed to tie the set three more times, but every time the Barons had an answer.  After Geneva pulled level at 22-22, Franciscan scored two straight to get to set point.  The Golden Tornadoes scored the next two to again pull even, though, and the teams alternated the next couple points.  With the Barons on their fourth set point, 26-25, Geneva reeled off the final three points, taking its first lead of the set, with a Townsend ace and a Shook kill finishing off the comeback, 28-26.  The Golden Tornadoes hit an impressive .333 in the set.

Geneva carried that momentum into the second set.  A kill from sophomore Megan Veon and an ace from junior Tess Neville started the set off, and the Golden Tornadoes never trailed.  Geneva steadily pulled away throughout the set and Franciscan never threatened.  The Golden Tornadoes scored the final six points to easily win, 25-10.

The women looked like they were going to breeze through the third set.  Neville and Veon opened with a block as Geneva jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead.  Two more kills from Veon helped extend the Geneva lead to 16-8 before Franciscan scored six straight to pull within two.  The Golden Tornadoes responded with kills from Veon and Townsend and an ace from freshman Heather Seubert, and the Barons never got closer than three points the rest of the set.  Veon ended the match with a kill, 25-19.  Geneva hit .342 in the final set.

Shook led the offense with 11 kills on a .321 hitting percentage, while Veon was close behind with 10 kills on a .333 hitting percentage.  Byers added eight kills on a .368 percentage.  Freshman Ashley Monroe finished with a team-high 21 assists, while Townsend finished with 19 digs, seven assists and four kills.  As a team Geneva hit .286.

"This was a really good way to end our home schedule this season," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "Obviously this season hasn't gone the way we had wanted it to, but it was never for lack of effort.  Maggie, Natalie and Hope have been such an integral part of our program these past four years, not just with their play, but with their heart and attitude.  We are really going to miss them, and I'm really proud of the way we played tonight in sending them out with a victory, against a Franciscan squad that had been playing well lately."

Geneva wraps up the season on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. match at Saint Vincent.

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).