ERIE, Pa. – It was a disappointing day for Geneva's men's volleyball team, as they dropped two three set matches to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) opponent Penn State Behrend (16-25, 21-25, 19-25) and to #17 Nazareth (22-25, 19-25, 16-25). With the losses, the men fall to 14-12 overall, 3-1 in conference play.
The first set of the day did not begin well for Geneva, as the men dropped the first three points of the match. Kills from sophomore Evan Puhl and freshman Daniel Spear kept the GTs in it, but they couldn't seem to gain the lead despite pulling within one point multiple times. Behrend built up a 13-8 lead, and eventually the Lions went on a 10-5 run to close out the set and won it handily 25-16.
Set two was much closer from the beginning, with a kill from sophomore Andrew Ubinger knotting the score at three early in the match. The Lions jumped in front 7-4, but a 6-1 run capped by a kill from freshman Owen Kelley handed the advantage over to Geneva. Both sides battled back and forth for a few minutes, but an 8-2 run for Behrend put the Penn State branch up 17-13. The GTs were able to pull back within one point on a Puhl kill, 20-19, but the Lions closed out well and took the set 25-21.
Again, the third set was close at the start. Kills from Ubinger and Spear put the score at 6-6, and after a few more points Ubinger was able to tie it up again at 11 with a kill. Behrend controlled the rest of the match from that point onward, however, and they won by final score of 25-19, finishing the set on a 14-8 run.
Puhl led Geneva with nine kills, the second-highest mark of his career. Junior Decker Milroy finished with a team-high 19 assists, and Carter Milroy recorded nine digs to pace Geneva defensively.
The men played very well to start the first set of Match Two. Freshman Peter Samuelsen boosted Geneva's lead to 7-4 with an early kill, and the Golden Tornadoes looked confident at the outset. A 12-6 run, fueled by kills from Kelley, Samuelsen, and Carter Milroy, pushed the GTs lead to 20-14, but that's when things started to go south. The Golden Flyers on an 11-2 run and won the set 25-22.
That drastic momentum shift seemed to be very detrimental to Geneva's focus, as they could not regain any sort of advantage over the next two sets. With the score knotted at 6-6 toward the beginning of Set Two, Nazareth put together an impressive 9-2 run to all but sink the GTs' hopes of winning. The Golden Flyers controlled the rest of the match, taking the second set 25-19 and the third set 25-16.
Kelley finished Match Two with a team-high eight kills to go along with three aces. Carter Milroy also had three aces, as well as six kills. Junior Joshua Sangrey led the men with eight digs, and once again Decker Milroy had a team-high 18 assists.
The men play two AMCC games next week, travelling to Hiram on Wednesday for a 7:00 PM matchup before returning home on Saturday to face Thiel.
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).
