ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Geneva College men's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on Saturday in a tri-match at Mount Union. The Golden Tornadoes let their first match with Mount St. Joseph get away after winning the first two sets, falling 25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 21-25, 8-15. Geneva then fell to Mount Union in straight sets 10-25, 13-25, 17-25. The losses snapped Geneva's six-match winning streak and dropped its record to 12-13.
Geneva controlled the first two sets of its match with Mount St. Joseph from start to finish. In set one, Geneva used a 4-1 run early to take a 6-4 lead. A moment later, a 5-1 Golden Tornado run extended the lead to 14-8. The Lions never got closer than four points the rest of the way, with Geneva winning 25-18 on an ace from junior Emerson Spear.
The second set brought more of the same. Geneva used a 7-1 run early to take an 11-6 lead, with senior Byron Spear contributing two aces and a kill in the run. The Lions would close within 15-13, but four straight points gave the Golden Tornadoes control again, 19-13. Byron Spear and junior Carter Milroy had kills, while sophomore Decker Milroy added a solo block. A kill from freshman Andrew Ubinger finished off the set, 25-18.
A kill from Ubinger and an ace from senior Jake Williams helped Geneva take a 4-1 lead in the third set, but momentum suddenly shifted. Mount St. Joseph strung together four straight points, and a moment later, four more straight points by the Lions gave Mount St. Joseph a 10-7 edge, forcing Geneva to play from behind. The Golden Tornadoes could never catch up, losing 25-19.
The Lions used another four-point run early in the fourth set to take a 9-5 lead. Geneva responded with a 7-1 run, though, to take a 12-10 lead. The set went back-and-forth over the next several minutes, with a late kill from Ubinger knotting the score at 21-21. However, the Lions scored the final four points to win, 25-21. The Golden Tornadoes suffered a tough break in the set when Byron Spear rolled an ankle and was unable to return.
Geneva scored the first two points of the fifth set, but Mount St. Joseph answered with five straight points, and the Golden Tornadoes could never recover in falling 15-8.
Ubinger led the team with a career-high 17 kills, while Byron Spear and Carter Milroy each added nine kills. Geneva hit .178 as a team, compared to .213 for Mount St. Joseph. Graduate student Curtis Thomas had 35 assists, while sophomore Joshua Sangrey had a team-best 19 digs. Decker Milroy led the team with a career-best five blocks.
Geneva took on Mount Union in the second match, a team that has been in and out of the national rankings all year long and had swept the Golden Tornadoes inside Metheny Fieldhouse earlier this season.
The teams alternated points early in the first set before Mount Union went on a 14-1 run to turn a 4-4 tie into an 18-5 lead. The Raiders took the first set 25-10.
The second set and third sets were struggles for Geneva as well and followed a similar script. The Raiders jump out to big leads early and won both by scores of 25-13 and 25-17, respectively.
The final stats showed the control Mount Union had in the match. The Raiders hit .481, while Geneva hit a negative .013. No Golden Tornado had more than four kills.
Geneva will look to rebound on Wednesday when the Golden Tornadoes return to conference action when they host Mount Aloysius 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).
