BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva men's volleyball team delivered a clutch five-set victory over Hiram College on Wednesday evening, utilizing an impressive block all night long to earn the win versus the Terriers. Up two sets to one, Geneva dropped the fourth set to the visitors before coming back to take set five, winning 20-25, 27-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10. The win pushes the GTs up to fourth place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) standings with a 5-5 conference record, 10-12 overall, with Hiram now just a half-game ahead of the men with a 5-4 PAC record, 12-9 overall.

Hiram gained an early 5-2 advantage over the GTs in set one, but a kill by junior Evan Puhl and a block by sophomore Daniel Spear and freshman Matthew DeGraaf sparked a 6-1 Geneva run in response. The Terriers quickly came back to tie the score at eight apiece, but they could not take the lead until midway through the set when they took off on an 8-2 stretch to seize a 20-16 edge. Back-to-back blocks from Spear and junior Andrew Ubinger pulled Geneva within one point, but Hiram scored five of the final six to win the first set 25-20.

Set two was close at the outset, but Geneva managed to build an 11-7 lead thanks to a couple of blocks from Puhl, DeGraaf, Ubinger, and Spear. The Golden Tornado advantage grew to as many as five points at 18-13, but the Terriers clawed their way back into the set, going on a 7-2 run to take a slight 24-23 lead right at the end of the frame. The men closed on a 4-1 run of their own behind two Ubinger kills, and a Puhl kill to end the set gave the GTs the victory, 27-25.

After Hiram scored the first four points of the third set, the Golden Tornadoes came back to tie it quickly before using an 8-1 run to gain a 16-11 edge. Another block from Spear and sophomore Owen Kelley pushed the Geneva lead to 19-14, and although Hiram threatened, the GTs held onto the lead for the rest of the set, taking it 25-21.

Junior Paul O'Donnell punched down a kill and freshman Christian Parks landed an ace to give Geneva an early 4-1 lead to start set four. The Terriers worked their way back to knot the score at six, and the two sides stayed neck-and-neck for the next several minutes. Finally, Hiram put together an 8-2 run to go in front 18-15, and despite Geneva cutting the deficit to one at one point the Golden Tornadoes could not take back the lead, falling in set four 25-20.

O'Donnell opened the fifth and final set with three kills to give Geneva a slight edge, 3-2. Puhl and Kelley followed up his effort with two kills of their own, but the GTs lead remained slim at 8-5. Kelley sliced an ace right down the line a few moments later that gave the men a definitive 11-6 advantage, and they held on to win the set 15-10, with Puhl recording the final point on a thundering kill at the net.

Puhl finished with a team-high 13 kills on a .321 hitting percentage, grabbing six blocks defensively, and O'Donnell recorded a career-best 12 kills in the win, shattering his previous personal record of seven. In an all-around impressive performance, Ubinger ended just one kill short of a triple-double, posting nine kills, 13 digs, and a career-high 25 assists. Senior Joshua Sangrey finished with a team-high 17 digs, and Spear and DeGraaf notched eight and seven blocks each, respectively. As a team, Geneva grabbed 15 total blocks compared to Hiram's eight, hitting .141 across the five sets.

The men have an important home match with second-place Grove City coming up on Friday, March 28^th, at 7:00 p.m. Before the match begins, the Golden Tornadoes will honor Sangrey, the lone senior on the team, for his contributions to the program.

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).