SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – After a strong opening day at the Wittenberg Classic on Friday, the Geneva College men's volleyball team struggled on Saturday, dropping matches to Roanoke and Wittenberg. The Golden Tornadoes lost to Roanoke 25-14, 13-25, 20-25, 23-25, and then fell to the Wittenberg 24-26, 24-26, 19-25.
The first match with Roanoke started well. Geneva dominated the first set, jumping out to a 9-4 lead and never looking back, easily winning 25-14.
Things turned around quickly, though. Roanoke was the better team in the second set, easily winning 25-13, and Geneva could never recover the rest of the match.
The Maroons led almost the entire third set. Geneva pulled within one point several times, the last time at 20-19, but Roanoke scored the next four points and won 25-20.
Geneva scored six straight early in the fourth set to lead 8-2, but a moment later Roanoke scored seven straight to take a 10-9 lead, and after two Golden Tornado points, the Maroons scored five more to take a 15-11 lead. Geneva tried to rally late, fighting off four match points, but Roanoke closed out the match with a kill, 25-23.
Senior
Byron Spear led the team with 10 kills. Sophomore
Joshua Sangrey had a team-best 11 digs, while graduate student
Curtis Thomas led the team with 32 assists. Geneva hit just .065 as a team, compared to .125 for Roanoke. Junior
Carter Milroy led the team with four blocks.
Geneva took on Wittenberg in the second match of the day, and the first set was close the whole way. Neither team led by more than two points the entire set, with the lead exchanging hands multiple times. Geneva got to set point, 24-23, but Wittenberg scored the final three points to win 26-24.
The second set was tight early before Wittenberg used a 7-2 run to take a 21-16 lead. Geneva battled back, fighting off four set points to pull even at 24-24, but again the Tigers finished off the set with two straight points to win by another 26-24 score.
The third set was also close early, with the teams battling to a 10-10 midway through the set. However, Wittenberg put together a 10-2 run over the next several minutes, and the Tigers closed out the match with a 25-19 win.
Byron Spear led the team with seven kills and eight digs, with Geneva hitting just .083. Freshman
Evan Puhl led the team with five blocks, while Thomas added 21 assists.
The men will have ten days off before opening conference play with a match at Saint Vincent on Tuesday, January 24, at 7:00 p.m.
Through purposeful learning in a community reflecting the full spectrum of God's kingdom, a Geneva College experience inspires students to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor. Offering 195+ traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality and affordability. 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 the International Association for Christian Education (IACE).
