BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team earned its sixth straight win on Wednesday night inside Metheny Fieldhouse, avenging a four-set loss earlier this season to Baldwin Wallace by returning the favor in a four-set defeat of the Yellow Jackets, 30-28, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20. Geneva evened its record at 10-10 overall, while Baldwin Wallace dropped to 8-10.
Senior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) opened the match with a kill, but Baldwin Wallace responded with a 4-1 run to take the lead, with the Yellow Jackets holding the lead for most of the first set. Three straight Yellow Jacket points extended their lead to 13-9 before Geneva managed to pull even at 17-17 behind back-to-back kills from Barbato and junior Wes Hoge (Venetia, Pa./Seton LaSalle). Geneva pulled level a couple more times over the next few minutes but could not take the lead back until a kill from junior Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) gave the Golden Tornadoes a 26-25 edge. The teams alternated the next five points before a service error and an attack error by Baldwin Wallace allowed Geneva to take the set, 30-28.
Geneva took its only lead of the second set early on, 3-2, after a kill from Hoge and a double block from Hoge and junior Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills). However, Baldwin Wallace answered with a 5-1 run to take a 7-4 lead, and the Yellow Jackets led the rest of the set. Baldwin Wallace stretched its lead to 14-7, and the Golden Tornadoes never got closer than four points of the rest of the way, with the Yellow Jackets winning 25-18 to even the match at 1-1.
Kills by Barbato, Spear and sophomore Carter Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) enabled Geneva to take a 5-2 lead early in the third set, the first time the Golden Tornadoes led in the match by more than two points. However, Baldwin Wallace used a 5-1 run a few minutes later to retake the lead, 11-10. The Yellow Jackets still clung to a 16-15 lead when a kill from Barbato sent Geneva on a six-point run, with the Golden Tornadoes taking advantage of five straight hitting errors by Baldwin Wallace. Hoge and Barbato and Hoge and Spear each contributed double blocks in the run. Geneva looked to be in good shape leading 23-18, but the Yellow Jackets answered with five straight points to pull even. However, a kill from Williams and a Yellow Jacket attack error allowed the Golden Tornadoes to hold on, 25-23.
Double blocks from Hoge and Barbato and Hoge and Spear, along with two kills from Spear, allowed Geneva to jump out to an 8-5 lead in the fourth set. After a Baldwin Wallace point, a kill from Milroy was part of a Geneva three-point run to give the Golden Tornadoes an 11-6 advantage. Geneva pushed its lead to 17-11 before the Yellow Jackets scored five straight points to pull within one, 17-16. Two kills from Milroy, along with a kill from freshman Decker Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) pushed the Golden Tornado lead to 20-16. Geneva finished the match from there, with Carter Milroy contributing a block and a kill, along with kills from Barbato and Spear, to give the Golden Tornadoes the 25-20 victory.
Barbato led the offense with 16 kills on a .324 hitting percentage. Spear added 12 kills on a .286 hitting percentage, along with 12 digs. Williams contributed seven kills and 16 digs, while Hoge finished with a career-high seven blocks to lead the Geneva defense. Freshman Joshua Sangrey (Landisburg, Pa./Homeschool) added 10 digs, while junior Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage) orchestrated the offense with 39 assists.
As a team Geneva hit .211. The Golden Tornadoes finished with 45 kills and 17 errors. Baldwin Wallace hit .172, with 58 kills but 30 hitting errors. Michael Devlin and Michael Beard led the Yellow Jackets with 21 and 20 kills, respectively.
"We got good contributions from everyone tonight, but I thought Pete really carried the load for us," said Head Coach Curt Conser. "I was really impressed with his hitting. He hit clean, and he made good decisions. Wes also stepped into the lineup tonight and gave us some really big blocks as well. Other guys made key plays throughout the match, but Pete was really the one that led us to victory."
Geneva heads to Hilbert on Saturday for a tri-match before getting over a week off for Spring Break. The Golden Tornadoes face Mount Aloysius at 2:30 p.m. followed by a match against Hilbert at 5:00 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).
