HARRISONBURG, Va. - It was a tough afternoon for the men's volleyball team today, as they lost to #16 Marymount in four sets (17-25, 25-22, 17-25, 22-25) and to Eastern Mennonite in three (20-25, 19-25, 17-25). After the Golden Tornadoes held their own against a very good Marymount squad, they just didn't have the energy to get anything going against the host Royals. Geneva is now 10-9 on the season.

The first set of the day started off fairly even, with both the GTs and the Saints trading points early. Marymount continued to inch in front, however, and Geneva didn't score multiple points in a row until a service error and back-to-back attack errors by the Saints cut their lead to 13-10. After a little more back-and-forth play, Marymount went on an 8-3 run to take the first set 25-17.

Again, the second set started off very close, with the Saints pulling in front 9-6 on an attack error by sophomore Evan Puhl. However, Puhl rebounded with a nice block with freshman Daniel Spear that paved the way for a 7-3 Geneva run to put the Golden Tornadoes in front 13-12. Marymount was able to pull back into the lead after a few points, but the GTs put together a nice 4-0 run capped off by an ace from freshman Owen Kelley to make their advantage 20-16. They would not surrender that lead, winning the second set 25-22.

Marymount jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the third set, but the Golden Tornadoes were able to fight back and tie it up on a kill by senior Carter Milroy. A few points later the men went in front 10-9 after an ace from freshman Peter Samuelsen. The set remained close, and the scoreboard stood at 15-15 halfway through. At that point, however, the Saints took off, finishing the third set on a dominant 10-2 run to go up two sets to one.

Geneva didn't start well again in the fourth set, finding themselves in a 6-2 hole early. The Saints maintained their lead for the rest of the match, pushing it to seven points at one point, 21-14. A furious comeback from the Golden Tornadoes made the score 24-22, but the men couldn't finish it off and they lost the fourth and final set 25-22.

Carter Milroy led the men in kills with eight, and junior Decker Milroy had a team-high 23 assists. Kelley recorded 7 digs, and Puhl put up 8 block assists to go along with one solo block.

The men came out sluggish once again in the first set against Eastern Mennonite, committing unforced errors to allow the Royals to get off to a 6-2 start. A kill from Kelley brought Geneva within one point, 8-7, but that was as close as the Golden Tornadoes would get for the rest of the set, and they dropped it 25-20.

Eastern Mennonite's momentum continued into the next set, and Royals took a 9-3 advantage off of some sloppy play from the GTs. Geneva stormed back to make it 13-11 on a kill from Carter Milroy, but EMU rebounded with a 6-2 run to go up 20-14. Geneva was not able to make any headway past that point, losing the second set 25-19.

It was the same story for the GTs in the third set, as early mistakes put them in an 8-3 hole early that they were not able to dig themselves out of. The Royals controlled the entire set from start to finish and took it 25-17, sweeping the Golden Tornadoes in three sets.

Kelley was one of the lone bright spots for the men in the second match, recording 10 kills to go along with a team-high 7 digs. Once again, Decker Milroy had 23 assists, and Carter Milroy contributed 6 kills in the loss.

Geneva is on the road again on Wednesday when the men travel to Bethany, a team they have already swept twice this year. The GTs will then head to New York for a tri-match next Saturday, where they will take on Wells College and SUNY Potsdam and finally begin conference play.
 

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).