BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team opened up the home portion of its schedule on Friday night by earning a pair of victories against visiting Bridgewater and Carlow.  The Golden Tornadoes defeated Bridgewater in the opening match of the night in four sets 23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-17, and Geneva then finished the night off with a sweep of Carlow 25-10, 25-18, 25-9.  The men improved to 2-1 on the season.

The Golden Tornadoes began the evening against Bridgewater, who was playing its first varsity match in school history in its inaugural season.  The Eagles roster consists of one senior, one junior and 14 freshmen. 

Geneva jumped ahead early in the first set behind kills from senior Evan Puhl and freshman Joshua Stowe.  Bridgewater hung close, though, pulling within two points, 13-11, before four straight Geneva points, the last on an ace from freshman Hunter Mozley, gave the Golden Tornadoes a 17-11 edge, their biggest lead of the set.  Geneva looked to be in good shape to finish of the set after kills from Puhl and Stowe gave the men a 22-17 lead, but Bridgewater stormed back behind the serving of Seth Williams, who picked up three aces in a stretch of six straight points to steal the set away, 25-23.

Geneva rebounded nicely, though, in the second set.  After the teams stayed close early, the Golden Tornadoes used seven straight points midway through the set to grab a 14-6 lead.  Puhl and senior Andrew Ubinger contributed kills in the run, while junior Daniel Spear had an ace.  The men eventually extended that run to 13-2 as Ubinger added two more kills and an ace, and another kill from Stowe finished off the set, 25-15, to even the match at one set apiece.

The men used a five-point run early in the third set to grab the advantage, 11-7.  Spear had two kills and block, while Ubinger added another kill in the run.  A 6-1 run later in the set extended Geneva's edge to 21-11.  Stowe had two aces and junior Owen Kelley a kill in the stretch.  Another kill from Spear finished off the set, 25-13.

A kill from Kelley and an ace from Stowe helped Geneva score the first three points of the fourth set, and a couple minutes later an ace from Kelley extended the Golden Tornado advantage to 9-3.  Geneva extended the lead to 14-5 after a kill from Puhl and an ace from Ubinger, and Bridgewater never got closer than five points the rest of the set.  A kill from Kelley and a double block from Puhl and sophomore Matthew DeGraaf helped seal the win, 25-17.

Ubinger led the team by almost posting a triple-double, finishing with 10 kills, 18 assists and six digs.  Puhl added eight kills, Kelley seven kills, and Spear and Stowe six kills apiece in a balanced offensive attack.  Geneva hit 250 as a team.  Freshman Aaron Villi also posted 18 assists, while sophomore Christian Parks led the team with eight digs.  Stowe also added seven digs and three aces in a strong all-round effort from the freshman.

Geneva made quick work of Carlow in the second match of the night.  The men scored the first four points of the match on two aces from Ubinger, a block from Puhl and Mozley, and a kill from Stowe.  The Golden Tornadoes stretched their lead to 13-4 after a kill from Ubinger and a block from Spear and Stowe.  A kill from Kelley finished off the set, 25-10.

The men received two early kills from Mozley, along with kills from Spear and senior Paul O'Donnell, in grabbing a 7-2 lead in the second set.  Carlow hung around for a while, pulling within 18-15, but kills from Stowe and DeGraaf allowed Geneva to pull away, and a Stowe kill was the final point in the 25-18 win.

Carlow grabbed an early 4-2 lead in the third set, but with the score tied at 6-6, Geneva finished the match on a 19-3 run.  Spear, Stowe and DeGraaf all had at least three kills apiece down the stretch in finishing off the match with a 25-9 victory.

Stowe led the attack with eight kills, DeGraaf added seven kills and Mozley six kills in another balanced effort.  Geneva hit .290 as a team.  Ubinger led the team with 23 assists, while Parks contributed a team-high eight digs.  Spear added four blocks to the win.

Geneva will be back in action next Tuesday with a home match against Mount Aloysius at 7:00 p.m.