ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Geneva may have entered the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Invitational tournament as the #5 seed overall, but the Golden Tornadoes showed the competition that they came to play with two statement victories against the #1-seed Warner University Royals and #3-seed Carolina University Bruins. Geneva won its first match of the day against the Royals in four sets, 23-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-13, and they triumphed in a close five sets against Carolina 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 15-10. With the two victories, Geneva's record improves to 6-2 on the season.
The first set of the tournament did not begin well for Geneva, as Warner University dominated the play early. Geneva's first kill finally came from Owen Kelley, followed by an Andrew Ubinger ace and a block from Decker Milroy and Daniel Spear to tie the set at 8-8. Geneva took its first lead of the afternoon on a block from Peter Samuelson and Carter Milroy to make the score 12-11, but sloppy play from both sides ensued and Warner pulled ahead. A Kelley kill brought Geneva within one point, but Warner then went up 24-20. The GTs attempted a late comeback, but it fell just short and the Royals took the first set 25-23.
Set two started off very similarly to the first, with Warner opening on a 5-0 run before committing a serving error. The two sides battled back and forth for a while before an ace by Alex Smith knotted the score at nine. Geneva then went on a 16-9 run to end the set, highlighted by back-to-back Joshua Sangrey aces and a couple of kills from Carter Milroy.
A beautiful Carter Milroy kill opened the scoring for both sides in the third set, and four early blocks put Geneva up 8-3. The Golden Tornadoes continued to dominate, going up 13-4 on another kill from Milroy. Three straight aces by Kelley just a few minutes later made the score 19-7, and Geneva rolled through the rest of the set to take it 25-12.
The fourth set proved to be more of the same from Geneva, with Carter Milroy and Samuelson ending the first rally with an excellent double block. A fired-up kill from Ubinger made the score 5-3 early, and Geneva never looked back, taking the final set 25-13 and the overall match 3-1.
Carter Milroy led all players with 10 kills in the match, as well as six blocks. Decker Milroy put up 28 assists to lead both teams, and Owen Kelley had five aces to go along with nine kills.
A kill from Carter Milroy got the scoring started for the Golden Tornadoes against the Carolina University Bruins. Both teams traded points for several minutes before a heads up play from Samuelson gave Geneva a slim two-point lead, 11-9. Carolina rallied back to tie the score, but a couple of kills from Spear and some terrific blocking from Spear and Evan Puhl allowed Geneva to build up the lead. The Golden Tornadoes finished the first set nicely, winning it 25-21.
Set two proved to be extremely close, as neither team had more than a three-point lead at any time until the very end. The two sides fought back and forth, and a solo block from Puhl gave the Golden Tornadoes a slight edge at 17-16. Ubinger got a kill to make it 23-20, and a big-time block from Spear and Samuelson put the Golden Tornadoes in a commanding position. They ended up taking the second set 25-21.
A couple of early blocks from the Golden Tornadoes kept the third set close at the outset. Carolina took the lead, but Kelley led a short 4-0 run for Geneva to bring the team back within three points, 14-11. However, the Bruins countered with a 4-0 run of their own, and they nabbed the third set 25-19.
The fourth set was another close one at the beginning, with Carolina maintaining a two-point lead for much of the early going. Geneva was able to tie the score up at 12 at one point, but then the Golden Tornadoes seemed to unravel as the Bruins went on a 13-6 run to end the frame and force a fifth set.
Geneva got back to its previous form in the final set of the evening, going on a 6-0 run after losing the first two points. Contributions came from every part of the court for the Golden Tornadoes, and Carter Milroy had four kills in the set to win a 15-10 set victory for Geneva and a 3-1 victory overall.
Owen Kelley ended the match with 12 kills, giving him 21 kills on the day, to go along with six aces, both team-highs on the day. Decker Milroy collected 64 assists across the two matches, and Joshua Sangrey had a team-best 20 digs. Ubinger had 20 kills, and Carter Milroy contributed 19 kills as well.
With the two victories, Geneva won Pool A and advanced to the semifinals of the NCCAA Invitational tournament. The Golden Tornadoes will face off against host school Roberts Wesleyan (who finished second in Pool B) in the semifinal at 12:30 pm on Saturday. The winner of that match will advance to the championship match taking place at 5:30 pm, while the loser will play in the third-place match at 3:30 pm.
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)
