BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's volleyball team got off to a strong start in its home opener against La Roche on Wednesday night, but the Golden Tornadoes stumbled late and lost a five-set match to the Redhawks 14-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-11, 16-14. 

Geneva jumped ahead quickly, 7-4, in set one and led the whole way.   A few minutes later, a kill from senior Abigail Glumac and back-to-back aces from senior Emily Nelson extended the lead 13-6.  The Golden Tornadoes cruised the rest of the way, getting a kill from junior Daphne Alexander to finish off the set, 25-14.

The second set is the one the women will likely look back at with some regret.  Geneva carried its strong play from set one into set two and led for most of the set, jumping ahead 10-5 behind three early kills from Alexander.  The Golden Tornadoes pushed their lead to 18-12 and appeared ready to take the set, but things fell apart late.  Several hitting errors by the women allowed La Roche to finish the set on a 13-3 run and steal the set away, 25-21.

The women didn't allow their late struggles in set two to carry into set three, though.  Geneva stormed out to a 10-2 advantage behind a couple early kills from freshman Kendall Anderson and an ace from senior Heather Seubert.  A moment later, a kill from junior Katie Seboe extended the lead to 13-3.  La Roche began to rally, though, closing within two points, 19-17, but Geneva was able to finish out the set on a kill from Nelson and an ace from Alexander, 25-20.

Nothing went well in the fourth set for Geneva, as La Roche took command early and cruised to a 25-11 win to push the match to a fifth set.

The Golden Tornadoes were forced to play from behind for the fifth set, never managing a lead.  Geneva pulled even several times, the last time when the Golden Tornadoes rallied with three straight points to stave off three match points, 14-14, but La Roche won with two straight Geneva attack errors, 16-14.

Alexander had a career night for the Golden Tornadoes in defeat, finishing with a career high 17 kills, without an error, for a sterling .654 hitting percentage.  Glumac added 12 kills, but Geneva hit just .091 as a team.  Sophomore Laura Goonewardene finished with a team-high 27 assists, while Seubert led the team with 30 digs.  Nelson added seven kills and 22 digs, while freshman Ruthie Land (14 digs) and Goonewardene (10 digs) also reached double-digit digs.

Geneva heads to Westminster on Saturday for a tri-match with Westminster and Penn State DuBois, beginning at 11:00 a.m.