ALTOONA, Pa. – It appears this Geneva College women's volleyball team wants to play as much volleyball as it is allowed to play each match, with Wednesday night's five-set match at Penn State Altoona's the fourth five-set contest in five matches so far this year.  Thankfully, the Golden Tornadoes have sophomore Megan Veon (New Castle, Pa./Mohawk) on their side, and she helped Geneva pull out a 25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 27-29, 15-8 victory with a career-high 24 kills.  Geneva improved to 3-2 with the win.

This did not look like a match that was going to go to five sets early on, as Geneva dominated the first two sets.  The Golden Tornadoes scored the first six point in set one.  Senior Hope Shook (Bellwood, Pa./Bellwood-Antis) had two kills, while freshman Ashley Monroe (Warren, Ohio/Labrae Local) added two aces.  After Altoona scored twice, Geneva added eight more points to build a 14-2 lead.  Shook and Veon each had kills, while junior Tess Neville (Lisbon, Ohio/Crestview) contributed an ace and kill in the run.  Altoona tried to make a run late, but Geneva easily won the set, 25-18.

The second set brought more of the same.  Shook opened the set with a kill, followed by an Altoona point.  The Golden Tornadoes then reeled off six straight points to take a 7-1 lead, with Shook adding two more kills in the stretch.  The Lions would close within two points twice, but Geneva took control midway through the set.   The Golden Tornadoes put together a 10-2 run to take a 20-10 edge, with Veon leading the way with five kills to send Geneva to a 25-19 win.

However, for the third time in the last four matches, Geneva saw an opponent rebound after the Golden Tornadoes won the first two sets.  The third set was the first close set of the match, with both teams holding small early leads.  Geneva led 20-18 late in the set, but service errors became a problem for the Golden Tornadoes, and Altoona was able to close the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-21.

Altoona took the early lead in the fourth set and extended its lead to 16-12 midway through the set.  Geneva responded with four straight point to pull even, and after a Lion point, kills from junior Savannah Byers (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley), sophomore Kami Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) and Neville gave Geneva a 19-17 lead.  Five straight Altoona points put Geneva behind again, but the Golden Tornadoes used two kills and a block from Veon to get to match point, 25-24.  Unfortunately, Geneva couldn't find the final point it needed to secure victory, with Altoona fighting off three match points in the final minutes to eventually come back and win the set, 29-27.

It was all Geneva in the final set, though.  Behind the serving of senior Maggie Townsend (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver County), the Golden Tornadoes scored the first six points of the set and cruised.  Geneva fed Veon every chance they got, and she kept coming through with kills to lead Geneva to the 15-8 victory.  Freshman Emily Nelson (Ellsworth, Wisc./Rift Valley Academy) also added two kills down the stretch.  Fittingly, it was Veon who finished off the match with a kill.

Veon's 24 kills, on an impressive .455 hitting percentage, are the most kills by a Golden Tornado since Erica Hughes had 29 kills in a match against Saint Vincent in 2017.  Shook added 14 kills, while Neville added 10 kills.  Geneva hit .142 as a team.

Monroe directed the offense with a team-high 34 assists, while junior Samantha Peachey (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty) added 22 assists.  Townsend led the team with 27 digs, Nelson added 19 digs and Neville also reached double-digits with 10 digs.

"Tonight was kind of consistent with how we've played so far this year," said Head Coach Wendy Smith.  "We have moments where we are pretty good, and moments where we lose focus and struggle, and part of that is we're still pretty young and have a lot of players playing together for the first time.  Overall, though, I'm proud of the way we rebounded in the fifth set to pull out the victory.  Megan was obviously tremendous tonight.  She is almost unstoppable when she is playing like that.  I thought Maggie was really good for us tonight as well, both defensively and serving."

Geneva heads to Penn State Behrend this weekend for another tournament.  The Golden Tornadoes face Fredonia on Friday, followed with matches against Behrend and Oswego State 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).