ERIE, Pa. – After losing to Penn State Behrend in four sets on Friday evening, the Geneva men's volleyball team dropped their last two matches up in Erie on Saturday, falling to Penn State Altoona in four close sets in the first match before being swept by Hilbert in the second. The Golden Tornadoes' record falls to 1-4 after the two losses, as they've struggled at various points so far in the young season.

The first two sets of match one followed a very similar script, with both teams going back-and-forth throughout the entire frame, Geneva tying the score at 24-24, and then losing both sets 26-24. In set number one, Altoona had taken a 19-13 lead midway through the set before Geneva came all the way back to tie it, while Geneva led for much of the early stages of set two before eventually falling. Sophomore Owen Kelley and junior Evan Puhl both played strongly in the first two sets.

Set three saw the men jump out to an early 9-4 lead thanks to two aces and kill from Kelley, and their momentum continued for the remainder of the set. Behind sophomore Daniel Spear's serve, the Golden Tornadoes scored four consecutive points down the stretch to take a commanding 18-10 lead, and they finished it off to win the set 25-15.

The fourth set against the Lions ended up being another close one, although Geneva flew in front 6-1 at the beginning by capitalizing on some Altoona errors. Slowly but surely, the Lions crept back into the match, tying the score at 14-14 and keeping it at no more than a two-point difference for the rest of the game. A Kelley kill gave Geneva a 23-22 lead late, but three straight points from the Penn State branch gave them the set, 25-23, and the overall match three sets to one.

Kelley led the men in kills against Altoona, finishing with 13 as well as four aces. Puhl and junior Andrew Ubinger each posted nine kills of their own, with Puhl sporting a .467 hitting percentage as well. Freshman Sho Larrabee took over the setting duties and recorded 27 assists, while senior libero Joshua Sangrey once again led the team in digs with 12.

Unfortunately for the men, their match against Hilbert was not as close. Error-prone play from the GTs allowed Hilbert to build a 14-6 lead in the first set, and despite a nice 5-0 response from the men buoyed by two Ubinger kills, Geneva was never quite able to pull back even. The Hawks concluded the set with six consecutive points, taking it 25-16.

Hilbert took a quick 8-4 lead to start set two, but Geneva stormed back this time on a 7-1 run to take a two-point lead, again thanks to some excellent play by Ubinger. Neither team was able to create much separation for the next several minutes, until four quick Geneva errors allowed Hilbert to take a 20-16 lead. The Hawks would win the set 25-19.

Again, Geneva appeared to start the third set off strong, playing well over the first several points, but one stretch in which Hilbert scored ten points consecutively doomed the GTs. Hilbert finished off the set quickly, winning it 25-16 to complete the sweep.

Ubinger was Geneva's leading attacker in the second match, posting eight kills on a .238 hitting percentage. Larrabee finished with 15 assists, while freshman Christian Parks recorded a game-high eight digs in the loss.

The Golden Tornadoes will look to rebound next week, beginning with a home match against Carlow on Tuesday, January 28^th that was rescheduled from earlier in the season. Then, on Thursday, the men head to Rochester, N.Y. for a tri-match with Houghton and Roberts Wesleyan.

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