HIRAM, Ohio – The Geneva College men's volleyball team lost in straight sets to Hiram on Wednesday night in the regular season finale for the Golden Tornadoes.  The Terriers won 26-24, 25-21, 25-16, which dropped Geneva's overall record to 9-19 as the men prepare for the Presidents' Athletic Conference playoffs, which start next Tuesday.  The highlight of the night was junior Owen Kelley becoming the program's all-time leader in kills with 869.

The first set was a close affair almost the whole way.  Geneva took the only lead of more than two points by either team early in the set, 7-4, behind two kills from sophomore Matthew DeGraaf, kills from senior Evan Puhl and freshman Matthew Lamay, and a block from junior Daniel Spear.  The Terriers pulled even at 8-8, though, and the teams stayed close the remainder of the set.  A late 5-1 run by Hiram turned a Geneva 19-17 lead into a 22-20 Terrier edge, and though the Golden Tornadoes pulled level at 24-24 on a pair of kills from Spear, Hiram scored the final two points to win 26-24.

Hiram jumped out to a big lead in the second set, 9-3, forcing Geneva to play from behind.  The Golden Tornadoes rallied, though, pulling within one point, 12-11, behind two kills from Puhl, a kill from Lamay and an ace from Kelley.  A couple minutes later, Geneva took its first lead of the set, 16-15, on a double block from Kelley and Spear.  Unfortunately, Hiram answered with six straight points to take control, and the Golden Tornadoes couldn't respond before falling, 25-21.

Geneva scored the first two points of the third set, but Hiram eventually overtook the Golden Tornadoes a few minutes later, stretching its lead to 16-10.  Geneva was unable to rally from there, losing the final set 25-16.  Kelley secured his record-breaking kill late in this set.

Puhl and Lamay led the team with seven kills apiece, while DeGraaf, Kelley and Spear each finished with six kills.  Senior Andrew Ubinger totaled 27 assists, while Spear had a big night at the net defensively, finishing with seven blocks.  Geneva hit just .102 as a team, compared to Hiram's .216 hitting percentage.

The men won't officially know their quarterfinal matchup until the rest of the league wraps up its regular season on Saturday, but Geneva will be the No. 6 seed and will likely head to Chatham, the projected No. 3 seed, on Tuesday.