GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team stunned Grove City on Wednesday night, defeating the Wolverines on the road in five sets 25-13, 25-23, 18-25, 12-25, 15-12.  The win is a breath of fresh air for the Golden Tornadoes, who have struggled early on this season but will hopefully be able to build off the impressive victory over a Grove City squad that came into the match with a 9-3 record.  Geneva picked up its first Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory of the season in improving to 4-14, 1-4 in the PAC.

Geneva came out well in the opening set, scoring the first five points of the match behind a kill from senior Emily Nelson, an ace from senior Abigail Glumac and two blocks from junior Katie Seboe.  Kills from Glumac and junior Daphne Alexander increased the Golden Tornado lead to 13-6.  Grove City pulled within four points, 14-10, but Geneva responded with a 9-1 run behind kills from Seboe, Glumac and Nelson, and blocks from Nelson, Seboe and Alexander.  Another kill from Alexander helped finish of the set, 25-13.

The Golden Tornadoes opened the second set with kills from Glumac, Seboe and freshman Rachel Baird to score the first three points.  A few minutes later, a kill from sophomore Laura Goonewardene, an ace from Alexander and another kill from Seboe increased Geneva's lead to 12-6.  The Golden Tornadoes eventually stretched their lead to 17-9 behind two kills from Baird and back-to-back aces from Glumac before Grove City rallied.  The Wolverines strung together a 10-2 run to pull even at 19-19, and the teams alternated points to get to 23-23 before a kill from Seboe and a Wolverine error gave Geneva the win, 25-23.

Finishing off the match was a tough challenge for the Golden Tornadoes, though.  Geneva used a kill from senior Heather Seubert and two more aces from Glumac to give the women an 11-9 edge midway through the third set, but Grove City took control of the set with a 12-5 run, and the Wolverines finished off the set 25-18.

Everything that could go wrong for the Golden Tornadoes did go wrong in the fourth set.  Grove City scored the first 11 points of the set to take control, and the Wolverines easily won the set, 25-12, sending the match to a fifth and final set.

The women regrouped in the fifth set, though, despite dropping the previous two sets.  Grove City held a couple early one-point leads in the final set, the final time at 6-5, but a kill and an ace from Nelson and a kill from Goonewardene gave the Golden Tornadoes an 8-6 lead, and Geneva would not give the advantage back.  A couple minutes later, kills from Seboe and Baird pushed the lead to 13-10, and after two Wolverine points, another kill from Nelson and a Grove City attack error delivered a 15-12 victory.

The women received a very balanced offensive attack in the win.  Nelson led the team with 13 kills, while Glumac and Alexander both added ten kills apiece, with Alexander hitting an impressive .421.  Baird had the best match of her young career, finishing with nine kills, while Seboe added eight kills.  As a team the Golden Tornadoes hit .222, their best effort of the year considering the opponent and the environment.

Goonewardene finished with a career high 43 assists in leading the attack.  Glumac was tremendous from the service line, finishing with a career high seven aces, while Geneva's block proved effective, led by Seboe's career high seven blocks.  Seubert led the team with 18 digs, while Nelson (12 digs) and Goonewardene (10 digs) each also reached double figures in digs.

The women will try to carry that momentum into Saturday when Geneva hosts Franciscan inside Metheny Fieldhouse at 10:00 a.m.