BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team finally got the chance to enjoy the home crowd on Wednesday night when the Golden Tornadoes hosted Mount Aloysius College inside Metheny Fieldhouse for Geneva's home-opener, and the Golden Tornadoes took advantage with a 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-19) sweep of the Mounties. Geneva improved to 5-4 on the season.
A kill from junior Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) opened the first set, but Mount Aloysius answered with a 5-1 run to take a 5-2 lead, and the Mounties led for most of the set. Geneva pulled within one point multiple times over the next several minutes before Mount Aloysius extended its lead to 19-14, the biggest of the set. An ace from Neville and kill from senior Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) helped pull Geneva within 19-17, and a moment later, a three-point run on two kills from sophomore Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) and an ace from freshman Emily Nelson (Kijabe Mission Station, Kenya/Rift Valley Academy) evened the set at 22-22, the first tie since 2-2. The Mounties scored the next point before the Golden Tornadoes scored the final three points on two kills from Neville and an ace from senior Natalie Parra (Hurricane, W.Va./Homeschool) to win 25-23.
The second set followed a similar script. Geneva opened with an ace from freshman Ashley Monroe (Warren, Ohio/Labrae Local) before the Mounties went on a 4-1 run to take the lead, a lead Mount Aloysius again held for most of the set. Back-to-back aces from Nelson would give the Golden Tornadoes a brief 8-7 lead, but a 10-2 run gave the Mounties a commanding 17-10 advantage. Geneva was able to rally again, though. A 7-1 run pulled the Golden Tornadoes within one point, and a moment later, a double-block from Nelson and junior Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) tied the score at 20-20. The Mounties would pull back ahead 24-22, but once against Geneva finished the set with a flurry, scoring the final four points on a kill from Byers, two double-blocks, one from Neville and sophomore Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk), and the second from Veon and Mummau, to give Geneva set point. Veon then finished off the set, 26-24, with a kill.
A kill from Veon opened the third set before Mount Aloysius once again pulled out to an early lead, this one 7-4. However, this set Geneva didn't wait until the last minute to rally. Four straight points, the last two coming on kills from Veon, gave the Golden Tornadoes the lead back, 8-7, and a moment later, five straight Geneva points, with Shook contributing a kill and a block, extended the Golden Tornado lead to 14-9. Mount Aloysius would pull within 17-15, but kills from Mummau and Byers, followed by back-to-back aces from Nelson, pushed the Geneva lead to 21-15, and Veon finished off the match with a kill, 25-19. Geneva hit .367 in the set, the best of the match.
Veon again led the attack with 11 kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while Shook added eight kills and Neville and Nelson seven kills apiece in another balanced effort. Geneva hit .229 as a team. Nelson had a strong all-around match, adding 10 digs and six aces. Parra had a team-high 11 digs, while Monroe had 20 assists and sophomore Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) 19 assists from the setter position.
"We started pretty slowly in this match, so we were probably a little fortunate to win the first two sets," said Head Coach Wendy Smith. "Hope helped us early, and then Megan got things going later in the match. Our ball control was also a little shaky early without Maggie (Townsend), but we figured it out and got contributions from a lot of players that helped us pull out the win."
The Golden Tornadoes head to Wittenberg this weekend for their final regular season tournament where Geneva will likely face its toughest competition of the season. The Golden Tornadoes play Asbury (KY) on Friday, and then have matches against Mount St. Joseph and Wittenberg 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).
