BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team had one of their better attacking performances of the season on Tuesday night against Penn State Altoona, after some adjustments to the lineup over the weekend, and the Golden Tornadoes cruised to a 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 win. The victory kept Geneva perfect in the conference, 3-0, while improving its overall record to 6-8.
Geneva opened the match with kills from senior Byron Spear and freshman Evan Puhl, and the Golden Tornadoes never trailed the rest of the set. Altoona managed to hang close early, though, eventually pulling even at 8-8. A kill from sophomore Decker Milroy kick-started an 8-1 Geneva run, though, with Spear adding two more kills and senior Jake Williams one of his own, giving the Golden Tornadoes a 16-9 advantage. Altoona made things interesting for a moment late, scoring four straight to pull within 20-18, but two kills from junior Emerson Spear, who played on the outside during the match, along with an ace from Williams, finished off the set, 25-20.
Geneva's attack was particularly effective in the second set. Kills from Byron and Emerson Spear, a kill from Puhl and another ace from Williams gave the Golden Tornadoes an early 6-2 edge. Geneva put the set away a few minutes later, scoring five straight points on two kills from Emerson Spear and one apiece from Byron Spear and Puhl to take a 17-7 lead. Back-to-back kills from Byron Spear finished off the set, 25-16, as Geneva hit .500 in the set.
The third set stayed relatively close until midway through the set when Geneva scored four straight to take a 15-9 lead. Junior Carter Milroy had two blocks, while Byron Spear had a block and a kill. Altoona tried to get back into the set, closing within 20-18, but the Golden Tornadoes closed out the match on a 5-1 run, the final point coming on a kill from Carter Milroy, to win 25-19.
Emerson Spear put together an impressive performance in his first try hitting at the pins. He finished with a career-high 14 kills on just 18 swings, hitting .611. Byron Spear added 11 kills as Geneva hit .333 as a team. Graduate student Curtis Thomas led the team with 23 assists, Carter Milroy had a team-high six blocks and sophomore Joshua Sangrey added a season-high 18 digs. Williams also continued his strong recent performance at the serving line, finishing with three aces.
The men will head back out on the road this weekend to face a couple strong teams. Geneva will play Lancaster Bible on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., followed by a match with the hosts, Baldwin Wallace, at 4:00 p.m.
