ERIE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team split its matches on Saturday at the PAC vs AMCC Weekend event hosted by Penn State Behrend, falling in straight sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-22) to the hosts before sweeping Hilbert (25-20, 25-22, 25-10).  Geneva is now 6-5 on the season.

In the first match of the day, Behrend jumped ahead early in the first set, 6-2, but Geneva responded with an 8-3 run behind a kill and an ace from junior Daniel Spear and a kill from junior Owen Kelley to take its first lead, 10-9.  Behrend controlled the rest of the set, though, answering with a 9-3 stretch to retake the lead, 18-13, and the Lions finished out the set, 25-19.

Behrend again jumped ahead in the second set, this time 9-5.  A kill from freshman Joshua Stowe and an ace from freshman Matthew Lamay helped the men pull even, though, at 10-10.  After Behrend stretch ahead 17-14, the Golden Tornadoes answered with five straight points behind a kill and block from senior Andrew Ubinger and an ace from Kelley, giving Geneva a 19-17 advantage, but the men couldn't finish off the set.  The Lions came back to win 25-22, finishing the set on a 5-1 run.

After Behrend took an early lead in the third set, 4-2, Geneva followed with a 6-1 run a few minutes later to go ahead 10-7.  Ubinger and senior Evan Puhl had kills in the stretch.  The see-saw set continued to go back and forth as Behrend responded to take a 17-14 advantage.  Geneva pulled even, 18-18, on kills from Kelley, Spear and Stowe, but Behrend closed out the set again better, responding with a 6-1 run to get to match point.  Geneva fought off three match points before falling 25-22.

Kelley led the team with 11 kills on a .308 hitting percentage, but overall the rest of the attack struggled, finishing with a team hitting percentage of just .076.  Ubinger had 13 assists, while freshman Aaron Villi totaled 10 assists.  Kelley added a team-high 11 digs, while Kelley, Puhl and Spear each had three blocks.

In the second matchup of the day against Hilbert, the first set was tight until Geneva reeled off eight straight points midway through the set to take a 16-9 lead.  Ubinger had two aces and Stowe two kills in the run.  Hilbert quickly pulled within two, 17-15, but a five-point run with two kills from Kelley gave the men a 21-16 edge, and a kill from Stowe finished off the set, 25-20.

Hilbert jumped ahead 5-2 in the second set before six straight points gave Geneva an 8-5 lead.  Spear had two kills and a block, while Villi added an ace.  The men stretched their lead to 17-10, and despite a late rally by the Hawks that brought them within two points, 23-21, kills from Kelley and Stowe allowed the Golden Tornadoes to win the set, 25-22.

The men took control of the third set with an 11-1 run to grab a 17-6 lead.  Stowe, Ubinger, Puhl, Kelley and sophomore Matthew DeGraaf all had at least one kill in the stretch.  A block from Spear and an ace from Kelley helped close out the match, 25-10.

Kelley led the team in kills again in the second match with nine.  Stowe had eight kills and Spear seven kills as Geneva hit a season best .394 as a team.  Ubinger led the team with 20 assists, along with seven digs, while Villi added 10 assists.

Geneva has a week off before hosting a pair of talented teams next Saturday for a tri-match inside Metheny Fieldhouse against Lancaster Bible and Division II Roberts Wesleyan.