ERIE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team rallied for a four-set victory on Friday night over Penn State Altoona on the opening night of the PAC vs AMCC Weekend Tournament, hosted by Penn State Behrend. The men struggled in the first set against the Lions before rebounding for a 15-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-16 victory. The weekend event pits teams from Geneva's current conference, the Presidents' Athletic Conference, against its old conference, the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Geneva improved to 5-4 on the season with the victory.
The men never got going in the first set. The Golden Tornadoes fell behind early, with Altoona scoring the first four points of the match, and Geneva's attack struggled to find any success. Altoona eventually took the set 25-15 with Geneva hitting negative and managing just three kills.
However, the rest of the match was a different story. Juniors
Owen Kelley and
Daniel Spear had early kills in the second set as Geneva took its first lead of the match, 4-1, and the men never trailed the rest of the way. Back-to-back kills from freshman
Joshua Stowe extended the lead to 12-7, and two aces from freshman
Aaron Villi and a kill from Kelley later in the set pushed the Geneva advantage to 18-10. Geneva eventually finished off the set, 25-16.
Two kills from senior
Evan Puhl and a kill from Villi early in the third set gave Geneva another quick lead, this one 6-2. Just like the second set, the Golden Tornadoes did not relinquish the advantage. A kill from Spear a few minutes later increased the margin to 12-5, and the lead stayed in that range for most of the set until late, when Altoona put together a run to close within 23-21, the closest the score had been since early in the set. However, kills from Villi and Kelley closed out the set, 25-21.
Altoona used three early points in the fourth set to take its first lead since the end of the first set. Geneva rallied, though, getting kills from Puhl and Spear to grab a 4-3 advantage, and the Golden Tornadoes never trailed again. A few minutes later, a kill from Stowe and a kill and an ace from senior
Andrew Ubinger increased the lead to 14-8. The men eventually stretched their advantage to 21-11 on a double block from Spear and Kelly, and Geneva closed out the match on a kill from Stowe, 25-16.
The men again boasted a balanced offensive attack. Kelley led the team with nine kills, Puhl had eight, Spear and Ubinger six apiece, Villi five kills and Stowe four as Geneva hit .142, though after the tough first set, the men hit .253 over the final three sets. Ubinger finished with 17 assists, while Villi chipped in with 13 assists. Ubinger and Kelley led the team with eight digs apiece, while Puhl had a team high four blocks.
The team will stay in Erie overnight and take on Penn State Behrend and Hilbert on Saturday, beginning at 12:00 p.m., before returning home.
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).
