VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team dropped both of its matches on Friday on the opening day of the Virginia Wesleyan Tournament, falling in four sets to Wilkes (25-16, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22) before being swept by the hosts Virginia Wesleyan (25-16, 25-14, 25-21).  Geneva is now 3-3 on the season.

In the opening match of the day against Wilkes, Geneva never got on track in the first set, falling 25-16.

The second set was more competitive, but a big run by Wilkes in the middle of the set, along with seven service errors, were too much to overcome for Geneva in falling 25-22.

Geneva played its best set of the match in the third set, leading almost the whole way.  Four straight points early, two on kills from freshmen Aaron Villi and Joshua Stowe, gave the men a quick 6-2 advantage.  Wilkes hung close, though, pulling even at 9-9 before four more straight Geneva points, behind a block and kill from senior Evan Puhl and an ace from senior Andrew Ubinger, put the Golden Tornadoes ahead for good.  Four more straight points a few minutes later behind back-to-back kills from junior Owen Kelley and an ace from Villi pushed the lead to 19-12, and double block from Villi and Puhl finished off the set, 25-17.

The fourth set was close throughout.  Geneva used a 4-1 run with kills from Kelley and Ubinger and double block from Stowe and Puhl to grab an 11-9 lead.  The men led for the next several minutes but could never pull away.  A solo block from Puhl gave Geneva a late 19-17 lead, but the men couldn't finish.  Wilkes closed the match on an 8-3 run to win 25-22.

Kelley and Stowe led Geneva with ten kills apiece, with Kelley adding 12 digs.  Villi finished with six kills and 13 assists, while Ubinger led the team with 24 assists, along with five kills.  Puhl totaled a team-high four blocks, while junior Alex Smith led the team with 14 digs.  Geneva outhit Wilkes and had five more kills, but 18 service errors proved costly in the loss.

In the second match of the evening against Virginia Wesleyan, the Marlins took control of the first set after the two teams were even early, and they went on to a 25-16 win.  Geneva was its own worst enemy at times with seven service errors in the set.

Geneva took an early 3-1 lead in the second set, but Virginia Wesleyan scored the next six points, and the Golden Tornadoes were unable to recover in falling 25-14.

Geneva fell behind early in the third set as well, but the Golden Tornadoes battled against the talented Marlins' squad, eventually pulling even at 20-20 on an ace from Villi.  Unfortunately, Geneva couldn't finish things off and fell 25-21.

Villi led the team with eight kills, but the Golden Tornadoes managed to finish with a negative hitting percentage, making it hard to rally.  Ubinger had 11 assists.

The men will have an early morning match tomorrow against Wisconsin Lutheran, who was very impressive on the first day of the tournament, beginning at 8:00 a.m.  The early start time allows the teams to beat the incoming snowstorm.