SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Geneva College women's volleyball team dropped another five-set match on Friday, this one coming on the opening day of the Wittenberg Classic against Asbury University (KY). The Golden Tornadoes again won the first two sets of the match before failing to close out the victory, falling 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 11-15. The loss dropped Geneva's record to 5-5.
It was Asbury who got off to the better start in the first set. The Eagles jumped out to a big early lead, 12-5, before Geneva rallied. The Golden Tornadoes strung together eight straight points on eight Asbury errors, two coming on blocks from sophomore Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk). A kill and a block from junior Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) stretched the lead to 17-14. The Eagles pulled even at 20-20 before a kill from Veon and an ace from freshman Ashley Monroe (Warren, Ohio/Labrae Local) helped give Geneva a 23-20 lead, and a block from Veon and junior Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) gave the Golden Tornadoes the first set, 25-22.
Geneva carried that momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 7-1 lead on two kills, a block and an ace from junior Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview), along a kill and a block from Peachey and a kill from freshman Emily Nelson (Kijabe, Kenya/Rift Valley Academy). Back-to-back aces from senior Natalie Parra (Hurricane, W.Va./Homeschool) helped the Golden Tornadoes stretch their lead to 17-7, and another ace from Monroe closed out the set, 25-17.
Unfortunately, Geneva's frustrating trend this season of winning the first two sets but being unable to close out the match continued on Friday. The Golden Tornadoes looked to be in good shape in the third set after back-to-back aces from Neville gave Geneva a 21-18 lead, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't finish things off. Asbury scored five straight points, and after two Geneva points, the Eagles closed out the set, 25-23, and the Golden Tornadoes couldn't recover the rest of the match.
Asbury took command of the fourth set early, taking a 6-2 lead. The Eagles steadily stretched their lead throughout the set, holding an 18-10 lead at one point, and Asbury finished out the set 25-19 to send the match to a fifth set.
The fifth set was back-and-forth early. Geneva took its only lead of the set on a kill and an ace from Nelson, 9-8. However, Asbury had the better play late. With the set tied 11-11, the Eagles scored the final four points to win the set, and the match, 15-11.
Veon again led the offense with 11 kills, along with adding five blocks, but the Golden Tornadoes hit just .058 in the match. Nelson had another strong all-around effort, finishing with eight kills, 24 digs, three blocks and two aces. Monroe led the offense with 17 assists.
Geneva faces two very good teams tomorrow on the final day of the classic. The Golden Tornadoes square off with Mount St. Joseph at 11:00 a.m., followed by a match with the hosts, Wittenberg, at 2:00 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).
