ERIE, Pa. – It wasn't the way the Geneva College men's volleyball team wanted to see its season end, but the Golden Tornadoes fell on Saturday afternoon in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship match at Penn State Behrend, losing in four sets 19-25, 25-23, 17-25, 18-25). Geneva's season ends with a 20-15 overall record, along with the program's first trip to the AMCC Championship match.
The Golden Tornadoes came into the match off one of their best performances of the season in a victory over Hiram in the AMCC semifinals the night before. Geneva was hoping to carry that play into its matchup with #1 seed Penn State Behrend, a team that the Golden Tornadoes had beaten twice already this season, but a Lions squad that had played the best volleyball of anyone in the conference over the final six weeks of the season.
Geneva opened the first set with a 3-1 lead, with senior Peter Barbato (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) picking up a kill early in the match. However, a 9-4 Behrend run gave the Lions a 10-7 lead. Geneva answered back, with Barbato adding another kill, along with an ace, as well as a solo block from sophomore Emerson Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills), to give Geneva the lead back, 13-12. After each team scored a point, Behrend ran off five straight points to take an 18-14 lead, and the Golden Tornadoes could never catch back up, losing 25-19.
Behrend took an early 8-5 lead in the second set, but a four-point Geneva run behind kills from sophomore Carter Milroy (Colorado Springs, Colo./TCA College Pathways) and junior Jake Williams (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin), along with a block from Williams and junior Byron Spear (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills), gave Geneva a 12-11 lead. A few minutes later, a kill from Spear and back-to-back aces from Williams gave the Golden Tornadoes a 17-14 edge. Behrend pulled with one point three times late in the set, but Geneva held on with a kill from Spear to win 25-23 and even the match at one set apiece.
Unfortunately, that play didn't carry over to the next two sets, as Behrend elevated its play. The Lions found success in the middle, and the Behrend defense also did a great job getting balls up, prolonging points and allow the Lion attack to generate points. With the third set tied at 10-10, Behrend scored four straight points to take control of the set, and the Golden Tornadoes never got closer than two points the rest of the set. The Lions steadily built their lead the rest of the way, winning 25-17.
Behrend used a five-point run early in the fourth set to take an 11-6 lead, and Geneva never got closer than four points the rest of the set, with the Lions controlling play and siding out at a very high percentage, preventing the Golden Tornadoes from ever putting together a run. Behrend finished of the match with a 25-19 win.
The numbers bared out the fact Behrend had the better of the play. Barbato led the team with 16 kills, but the team hit just .094, finishing with 38 kills. The Lions finished with 53 kills on a .223 hitting percentage. Freshman Joshua Sangrey (Landisburg, Pa./Homeschool) led the team with 14 digs, while junior Curtis Thomas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Christian Heritage Academy) finished with 33 assists.
"I'm obviously disappointed in our loss today, which prevented us from reaching our goal of a conference championship," said Head Coach Curt Conser. "I was proud of the way we played last night against Hiram to get us to this match, but we just didn't execute well enough today.
"The first set today was a struggle, but I was pleased that we didn't fold and came back to win set two to give us a chance. Give credit to Behrend, though, who played at such a high level in the last two sets. We didn't match their level play to give us a chance, and that's frustrating, but it doesn't diminish the season these guys had.
"As far as Pete, I know we're a young program, but he'll go down as one of the best outsides to play for Geneva. Certainly, he's the best outside we've had so far in our program. He has grown so much over his four years here, and he was as good as any player in the conference this season. He's been the type of player that we needed this year, and he deserves every accolade he has received and will receive."
Barbato and Byron Spear were both named to the All-Tournament team for their play the last two days in leading Geneva to the championship match.
The loss ends the standout career of Barbato, who will finish his career with a number of Geneva records. He will leave a big hole in the Geneva lineup, but the Golden Tornadoes do return most of the rest of the squad that finished second in the AMCC.
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).
