BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team put together its best performance of the season on Saturday in a home Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) tri-match inside Metheny Fieldhouse. The Golden Tornadoes opened with a 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23) win over Medaille in the first match of the day, and then they closed the tri-match with an even more impressive sweep of Penn State Altoona (35-33, 25-17, 25-11). Geneva improved to 6-10 overall, 2-1 in the AMCC.
In its first contest of the day, Geneva scored the first point of the match against Medaille, but the Mavericks led for most of the first set. With the set tied at 4-4, Medaille went on an 8-3 run to take a 12-7 lead, with the Golden Tornadoes struggling with hitting errors. The Mavericks led by as much as 18-12 when Geneva mounted a comeback. Two kills from senior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) helped the Golden Tornadoes pull within 19-18, and a moment later Geneva tied up the match at 20-20 on a kill from junior Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin). A kill from freshman Decker Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) gave Geneva set point, 24-23, the Golden Tornadoes' first lead since the first point of the set, but Geneva couldn't finish off the comeback and fell 27-25. Medaille hit .241 in the set, while Geneva hit just .065.
Kills from junior Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and sophomore Carter Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) early in the second set helped Geneva take a 4-2 lead. Another kill from Milroy pushed Geneva's lead to 9-5. Medaille scored four straight points, though, later in the set to pull even at 12-12. However, the Golden Tornadoes countered with an 8-1 run, with Barbato and junior Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage Academy) contributing aces and Williams a kill. Geneva easily closed out the set, 25-17, on a kill from Milroy. Geneva hit an improved .294 in the set.
Medaille jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set before Geneva reeled off seven straight points behind the serving of Carter Milroy. Barbato had two kills, while Milroy added an ace and a kill in the run. The Golden Tornadoes would extend their lead to 15-8 on a kill from sophomore Emerson Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) before the Mavericks rallied. Medaille responded with a 10-2 run, including five straight points to end the run and take an 18-17 lead. The teams traded the lead back and forth before Geneva finished the set on a 5-1 run, the last point on a kill from Milroy, to give Geneva a 25-22 victory.
A kill from Williams and Carter Milroy helped give Geneva an early 3-0 lead in the fourth set, but Medaille immediately responded with three points to even the set. The Golden Tornadoes answered right back with four straight points, including kills from Byron and Emerson Spear, along with a double block from Emerson Spear and Peter Barbato. The Mavericks used a big run, 8-2, midway through the set, though, to take a 16-13 lead. Kills from Barbato and Williams helped Geneva immediately tie the score back up. The Golden Tornadoes scored four straight points, with kills from Milroy and Barbato, along with a double block from that same duo, to give Geneva a 24-21 lead. The final point didn't come easy, though, as the Mavericks scored the next two points before a Medaille hitting error closed out the match, with Geneva winning 25-23.
Carter Milroy finished with a career-high 14 kills on a .333 hitting percentage to lead Geneva. Williams added nine kills while Barbato chipped in with eight kills. Thomas finished with 33 assists, while freshman Joshua Sangrey (Landisburg, Pa./Homeschool) had a team-high 12 digs. Byron Spear chipped in with six kills and 10 digs, while Emerson Spear led the team with four blocks. As a team Geneva hit .150.
Medaille hit .133 as a team and was led by the duo of Malachi Jackson and Matt Dickerson, who finished with 16 kills and 15 kills, respectively, though each also had double-digit hitting errors.
Penn State Altoona took care of Medaille in the middle match of the tri-match, leaving Geneva and Penn State Altoona to play to see who would go home with two wins on the day, and the Golden Tornadoes put together their best performance of the season to make sure they would be the ones to go home happy.
The first set would prove to be the longest set in school history. The two teams went back and forth, with Barbato providing a couple kills early, but neither team able to gain much of an advantage. A kill by Williams and an ace from Barbato gave Geneva its first lead of the match by more than one point, 14-12. After a Lions point, three more Geneva points, the last on a kill from Williams, pushed the Golden Tornado lead to 17-13. Penn State Altoona battled back to within one point, 22-21, but a kill from Byron Spear and an ace by Barbato gave Geneva three set points, 24-21. The final point would take a while to get, though.
Penn State Altoona scored the next three points to even the match at 24-24. The teams then alternated the next 11 points, with Geneva scoring to get another set point, and the Lions pulling back even. With Geneva leading 30-29, Penn State Altoona scored twice to get to set point for its first time, 31-30. However, a Lions service error followed by a double block from Milroy and Byron Spear gave the Golden Tornadoes the advantage back, 32-31. The teams would alternate the next three points before back-to-back kills from Milroy and Barbato finished off the epic set, 35-33. In total, Geneva had 11 set points before closing the set out on the 12th set point. Geneva hit an impressive .425 in the set, with 18 kills and only one error. The previous highest point total in a set for Geneva was 30 points.
Geneva carried that momentum into the next two sets up and never let up. The second set was close early, but the Golden Tornadoes led the whole way. Kills from Milroy and Byron Spear extended the Geneva lead to 10-6. Penn State Altoona was able to pull within one point briefly, 15-14, but Geneva scored eight of the next nine points, with Williams adding a couple more kills in the run, to give the Golden Tornadoes a 23-15 advantage, and Barbato closed out the set with a kill, 25-17.
Geneva was completely dominant in the third set. The Golden Tornadoes opened with a double block from Milroy and Williams, followed by an ace from Byron Spear, and after a Penn State Altoona point, Geneva scored two more points, with Barbato adding another kill. The Golden Tornadoes then pulled away with four straight points to take a 9-3 lead, and the set was never close again. Geneva put the match away with seven straight points, with Barbato contributing two more kills and Williams an ace and a kill, to give the Golden Tornadoes a 20-7 lead. A double block by Barbato and Emerson Spear closed out the match, 25-11. Geneva hit an even better .500 in the set.
The final numbers were pretty impressive for the Golden Tornadoes. Barbato finished with 15 kills on a .464 hitting percentage, while Williams had a career-high 12 kills on an even better .545 hitting percentage. Milroy added seven kills on a .400 hitting percentage. As a team Geneva hit .372, its best of the season, with the Golden Tornadoes finishing with 39 kills and just seven hitting errors. Thomas led the offense with 34 assists, while Thomas and Sangrey each finished with eight digs. Milroy led the team with seven blocks.
The Geneva defensive block held Penn State Altoona to just a .073 hitting percentage, with Philip Silva leading the Lions with 12 kills.
"This was obviously a very encouraging performance for us today," said Head Coach Curt Conser. "We were definitely a little sloppy at times in the first match with Medaille, but we were really sharp offensively in the second match against Penn State Altoona. Our hitters made really smart decisions and executed the attack well, and our block really gave both teams a lot of trouble. It was as complete of a performance as we've had all year, and hopefully this is something we can build on going forward."
The men continue AMCC play next week with a road match at Thiel on Wednesday and a tri-match at Saint Vincent College on Saturday.
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).
