GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Geneva College men's volleyball team faced arguably its toughest competition of the season in a tri-match at Thiel on Friday afternoon.  The two teams Geneva faced in Thiel and Buffalo State were both receiving votes in the national polls and were ranked among the top 25 teams in Division III.  The Golden Tornadoes battled before falling in straight sets to Thiel (25-19, 25-21, 25-20) in the first match of the day.  The men then put a scare into Buffalo State before falling in five sets (25-16, 25-18, 20-25, 26-28, 15-8).  The losses dropped their overall record to 6-12, 0-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).

In the first match of the day against Thiel, Geneva hung with the reigning PAC champions in the first set, grabbing a 16-14 lead on a kill from senior Evan Puhl.  The Tomcats answered with a 9-1 run, though, to grab control of the set, and Thiel eventually won, 25-19.

The Golden Tornadoes jumped out to a big early lead in the second set, 10-4, behind kills from senior Andrew Ubinger and freshman Joshua Stowe, along with a kill and an ace from junior Owen Kelley.  Geneva still led 17-14 after kills from Kelley and junior Daniel Spear, but the men couldn't hold off another late charge from the Tomcats.  Thiel finished the set on an 11-4 run to win 25-21 to take a two-set lead.

The third set followed a similar script.  Geneva hung tight with the Tomcats for a while, pulling within 13-12 on a kill from sophomore Matthew DeGraaf.  Thiel pulled away after that, though, using a 6-1 run after DeGraaf's kill to gain control, eventually finishing off the match with a 25-20 third-set victory.

Puhl was the standout performer for Geneva in the Thiel match, leading the team with 10 kills on an impressive .450 hitting percentage.  Kelley added seven kills to the attack.  Ubinger led the team with 24 assists, while Stowe and Spear each totaled three blocks.  As a team Geneva hit .120, compared to a .253 attack from Thiel.

Things didn't get any easier in the second match of the day against a talented Buffalo State squad.  In the first set, an ace from Stowe pulled Geneva within 7-6 before the Bengals followed with four straight points, and the men never got back into the set in falling 25-16.

Geneva scored four straight points, including two aces from Spear and a kill from Kelley, to take an early 10-8 lead in the second set.  The set stayed close for the next several minutes, but with Buffalo State clinging to an 18-17 advantage, the Bengals closed the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-18.

The men broke through for their first set win of the day in the third set.  A kill from Stowe and back-to-back kills from Spear gave Geneva an early 8-7 edge.  Buffalo State pulled even twice over the next few minutes, the last time at 13-13, but the Golden Tornadoes followed with a 10-4 run to open up a 23-17 lead.  Stowe had three kills in the stretch, Spear a kill and a block and Kelley another kill.  Geneva finished off the set, 25-20, on a kill from Puhl and a Bengal service error.

The fourth set proved to be a dramatic one.  Geneva jumped ahead early, 10-5, behind an active block that accounted for three points.  Spear was a part of all three of those blocks, while DeGraaf added two blocks in the stretch.  The men also received kills from Stowe and Kelley.  Geneva eventually stretched its lead to 15-8 behind kills from Puhl and Kelley before the Bengals rallied.  Buffalo State eventually pulled even at 21-21.  Geneva got to set point, 24-22, but the Bengals scored three straight to get to match point.  The Golden Tornadoes eventually had to fight off two match points, which they did, before Geneva found the winning plays late to win 28-26.  Stowe, Kelley and Spear provided the final three kills.

The men couldn't finish off the reverse sweep, though.  The teams alternated the first nine points of the fifth set before Buffalo State pulled away to win 15-8.

Kelley led the attack with 13 kills, while Stowe posted nine kills.  Neither team hit a high percentage, with Geneva finishing with a .054 hitting percentage.  Buffalo countered with a .192 hitting percentage.  Ubinger totaled a career high 32 assists.  Spear posted eight blocks, three of the solo variety.  Stowe led the team with 17 digs.

Friday's match against Buffalo State was the last non-conference match of the season for the men.  Geneva will return to PAC play on Wednesday with a home match against Grove City at 7:00 p.m.