GREENVILLE, Pa. – It was a rough night for the Geneva College women's volleyball team in its match at Thiel on Tuesday night as the Golden Tornadoes wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule.  The Tomcats controlled the match from the start in sweeping Geneva 25-15, 25-19, 25-10.  The Golden Tornadoes dropped to 6-10 as they head into Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Saturday.  Thiel improved to 7-6.

Thiel jump ahead early in the first set, scoring the first four points before a kill from junior Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) got Geneva on the board.  However, the Golden Tornadoes never got closer than three points the rest of the set.  The Tomcats scored six straight to take a 14-5 lead before Geneva tried to rally, pulling with three points, 17-14, on a kill from sophomore Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk).  Unfortunately, Thiel finished the set on an 8-1 run to win 25-15.

An ace from freshman Ashley Monroe (Warren, Ohio/Labrae Local) to open the second set gave Geneva its first lead of the match.  Thiel answered with five straight points, though, before Geneva rallied to retake the lead, 10-9, behind back-to-back aces from freshman Emily Nelson (Kijabe, Kenya/Rift Valley Academy).  However, the Tomcats responded a moment later with five straight points to take a 17-11 advantage.  A kill from senior Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) would pull Geneva within 19-17, but again Thiel closed out the set better, finishing on a 6-2 run to win 25-19.

The third set got out of hand quickly.  Thiel scored the first four points on its way to a 12-2 lead, and the Tomcats cruised to a 25-10 win to finish off the match.

Thiel finished with a .246 hitting percentage, compared to Geneva's .034 hitting percentage.  Veon led the offense with seven kills, while Monroe had 13 assists and 11 digs.  Senior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County Christian) led the team with 20 digs.

Geneva will officially begin PAC play on Saturday when the women host Grove City for an 11:00 a.m. match inside Metheny Fieldhouse.

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).