ERIE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team didn't take the easy way, but they did it. The Golden Tornadoes triumphed over Penn State Behrend on Saturday afternoon, reverse sweeping the Lions after letting the first two sets slip away to win the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship for the first time in program history. The five-set victory (22-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-13, 15-11) gives the Golden Tornadoes the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
The matchup between the two teams was a rematch of last year's AMCC Championship, which the Lions won in four sets, and the contest was hosted at Behrend because the Lions had defeated Geneva two weeks ago to grab the top seed in the tournament. Despite the two-hour trip, though, the Golden Tornadoes had a large and vocal crowd, which would get to endure and enjoy the next two and a half hours of ups and down, twists and turns.
Geneva was its own worst enemy in the first set, similar to last night's AMCC Semifinal matchup with Thiel. The first 11 Behrend points came on Geneva errors, but despite that, the Golden Tornadoes were down just one at that point. Geneva looked ready to overcome its error-prone play when the Golden Tornadoes used a three-point run to grab 21-19 lead. However, the Lions scored the next two points, and after a kill from senior Jake Williams gave Geneva the lead back, 22-21, Behrend took the final four points to come from behind for a 25-22 win.
Kills from seniors Devin Goodgasell and Byron Spear gave Geneva an early edge in set two, and another kill from Spear helped extend the lead to 10-5. The Golden Tornadoes appeared to be in full control later in the set when another kill from Spear was part of a run that extended the margin to 19-13. Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes couldn't close. Behrend battled back to tie the set at 22-22. Geneva scored the next two points to get to set point, but just like the first set, the Lions finished the set with four straight points to come from behind again, 26-24.
If Golden Tornadoes were dejected after dropping the first two sets that they had late control of, it didn't show. A kill from Williams and a block and a kill from junior Emerson Spear gave Geneva an early 4-1 lead in set three. Behrend would respond a couple minutes later with another four-point run to take an 8-7 lead, but the Golden Tornadoes answered right back with five straight points. A kill from junior Carter Milroy would extend the edge to 18-13. A win wouldn't come easily, though. Behrend put together another four-point run to pull within one point, and the Lions eventually knotted the score at 21-21. However, with defeat staring Geneva in the face, the Golden Tornadoes didn't blink. With Behrend just four points away from a title, Geneva scored the next three points to get to set point, and after a Lion kill, Byron Spear gave Geneva its first set win with a kill, 25-22.
The victory seemed to lock the Golden Tornadoes into a laser focus, and they blistered Behrend in the fourth set, playing some of their best volleyball of the season. Two kills from Spear, two kills from Williams and an ace from freshman Andrew Ubinger was part of a seven-point Golden Tornado run to grab an 11-4 lead. Another kill from Spear, a block and a kill from Emerson Spear, and an ace from graduate student Curtis Thomas extended the advantage to 19-7, and everyone knew the match was going to five sets at that point. A kill from Williams finished off the set, 25-13. Geneva hit .400 in the set.
Geneva carried all that momentum and confidence into the fifth set, and Behrend could never slow down the Golden Tornado freight train, though the Lions tried. Early kills from Williams and Byron Spear gave Geneva a 3-1 edge, and the Golden Tornadoes would never trail in the set. Behrend would stay close, though, pulling within 7-6 midway through the set. A kill from Milroy kick-started a four-point Geneva run, though, and the Golden Tornadoes could feel the championship coming into their grips, up 11-6. The Lions had one last run, three straight points, to close within two points, but Geneva finished off the match in front of a loud and raucous crowd who could also sense a victory coming. Spear and Williams responded with kills, Ubinger got a kill to get to championship point, 14-10, and then after a Lion point, Spear finished off the comeback with a kill, 15-11, setting off a wild celebratory dogpile on Geneva's end of the court, right in front of the screaming Golden Tornado fans.
Byron Spear and Williams again led the Golden Tornadoes, as they have done all year. Spear finished with a career-high 25 kills, one off the school record, while Williams added 14 kills. Emerson Spear contributed nine kills on a team-best .333 hitting percentage. As a team Geneva hit .196, holding Behrend to a .121 hitting percentage.
Thomas led the team with 28 assists, while sophomore Decker Milroy chipped in with 19 assists. Geneva's defensive backline did strong work, with sophomore libero Joshua Sangrey finishing with a team-high 22 digs. Williams and Thomas each added 17 digs, Byron Spear 12 digs and Ubinger 10 digs. Emerson Spear led the team with four blocks, while Williams, Ubinger and Carter Milroy each contributed three blocks.
"This is where we all thought we could be at the end of the season, but it was a process to get here," said Head Coach Curt Conser. "We didn't always look like a championship team this season, but we figured it out at the end. I challenged our guys after the second set to find another level. We felt like we were our own worst enemy at times in the first two sets, and it was very disappointing to lose both.
"That said, we had great senior leadership in the huddle after set two. They knew we could still win the match, and I believed that too. But we had to come together and play our best volleyball, and we kind of figured things out in the third set. That gave us confidence, and we played maybe our best volleyball of the season in set four. Then these guys just wouldn't be denied in the fifth set. I'm really proud of the way these guys battled, and while we would have preferred to have not let the first two sets slip away and won in straight sets, there was something probably fitting for this team to have to do it the way we did."
The volleyball team will learn its destination on Monday morning when the NCAA releases the Division III men's volleyball bracket. The Golden Tornadoes will most likely head somewhere east, with the first round scheduled for Friday.
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).
