BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team celebrated its lone senior, Joshua Sangrey, prior to its match on Friday night against visiting Grove City, and unfortunately the Wolverines proved too tough for the Golden Tornadoes and swept the match 25-21, 25-20, 25-23.  Geneva drops to 10-13 overall, 5-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).

The men opened the evening with a short ceremony to honor Sangrey, who has put together the best libero career of any player since the program started seven years ago.  He's Geneva's all-time leader in digs, surpassing 1,000 career digs earlier this year, and he currently sits in a tie for eighth place all-time in NCAA Division III history with 1,148 career digs.  The Golden Tornadoes also entered the evening knowing they had to defeat Grove City to have a shot at the second bye for the upcoming PAC playoffs.

Geneva opened the match with a kill from junior Evan Puhl, followed by back-to-back aces by junior Andrew Ubinger.  However, Grove City quickly responded with five straight points as part of an 8-1 run, taking control of the set.  The Golden Tornadoes struggled to string together more than one point at a time, and the Wolverines steadily pulled away. Trailing 24-16, the men scored five consecutive points to make the score more respectable, but the deficit proved too much to come back from and Geneva lost the set, 25-21.

The Wolverines carried over their momentum between sets, leaping out to an 11-2 lead. A Puhl kill followed by a block from Puhl and freshman Matthew DeGraaf allowed the GTs to pull back within five points, 14-9, but four consecutive Grove City points pushed the visitors' lead back up to nine. Once again, Geneva ended the set with a nice 7-2 stretch behind strong serving from sophomore Alex Smith, but as in the first set, the deficit proved too large to surmount, with Grove City taking set two, 25-20.

The visitors went in front again in the third set, 8-5, but this time Geneva managed to hang with them, keeping the gap within four points over the next few minutes. Kills by Ubinger and sophomore Owen Kelley, followed by a solo block from sophomore Daniel Spear, knotted the score at 15 midway through the frame, and few moments later the GTs took the lead via two more kills by Ubinger and Puhl. Grove City responded well, hopping back in front quickly, and despite Geneva being within one point right at the end the Wolverines won set three, 25-23.

Puhl and Kelley tied for the match-high in kills, with each player notching ten apiece. Puhl paired that offensive effort with seven total blocks on the defensive side as he was active at the net all night long. Freshman Colton Alfaro posted a team-best 22 assists, and both Sangrey and freshman Christian Parks finished with 12 digs to lead the GTs. Ubinger also ended with a nice stat line, hitting .389 with eight kills and 12 assists in the loss.

Despite being knocked out of contention for a first-round playoff bye, Geneva still has a chance to host a playoff game if the men get a win in their final PAC contest of the season along with some help from other teams. The GTs head to Buffalo, NY tomorrow for a tri-match with Mount Aloysius and Buffalo State before finishing up the regular-season with a conference match at Bethany.

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).