ELMIRA, N.Y. – Geneva women's volleyball finally suffered a loss on Saturday morning, but it took Gallaudet University five sets to make it past the GTs. Thankfully, the women rebounded with a five-set victory of their own later in the afternoon, defeating New England College in their second nailbiter of the day. The split moves Geneva's record to 3-1 on the season, with the Golden Tornadoes going 2-1 on their weekend road trip to New York.
The women knew Gallaudet would prove to be a formidable opponent heading into the first match of the day, and they came into the contest with a tough mindset, gaining a slight 11-9 edge early in the first set following three straight kills. The Bison snuck in front for a short bit, snatching a brief 16-15 lead, but six straight Golden Tornado points swung the momentum back toward Geneva. Gallaudet came back to tie the score once again at 22-22, but the women toughened up for the final three points to win the set 25-22.
Set two was over fairly quickly for Geneva, as the Bison soared out to a 17-4 lead. The women never stood a chance after that, falling 25-13.
It seemed that the second set served as a wake-up call for the GTs, with the women capturing a 9-4 lead early in set three. Gallaudet worked its way back, however, taking a 15-12 advantage before a 7-2 Geneva run, fueled by a block and kill by senior
Daphne Alexander, sent the Golden Tornadoes in front 20-18. They did not relinquish the lead in the set, winning 25-21.
The women hung around with Gallaudet for most of set four, even taking a late 19-18 lead by way of a kill from sophomore
Rachel Baird. Unfortunately, the Bison closed the set on a 7-1 run to win it, and that momentum carried through to the fifth and final set, which they took 15-13 despite three late kills from Alexander.
Senior
Katie Seboe was Geneva's leading kill-getter in game one, notching nine kills on .308 hitting. Freshman
Vanessa Crider registered a career-high 24 digs, and freshman
Kyla Kephart recorded a team-best 17 assists, as well as four aces, in the loss. Freshman
Sarah Elkins also served four aces to go with 12 digs and four kills.
The Golden Tornadoes entered the first set of match two with a vengeance, jumping ahead 18-5 behind three kills from Baird and three aces by sophomore
Amanda Mitan. The Pilgrims got their feet under them at that point, but by then it was too late as Geneva coasted to a 25-16 set victory.
The two sides went back-and-forth to start set two, with New England going ahead 10-7 before four consecutive Golden Tornado points gave them a slim edge. Back-to-back kills by sophomore
Kendall Anderson put Geneva in front 20-17 late in the set, but an 8-3 Pilgrim run sank the women in set two as New England won it 25-23.
The Pilgrims maintained their momentum to start the third set, moving in front 8-3 and then 12-9. Five straight Geneva points behind the serve of Crider gave the women the edge a few minutes later, and despite New England battling the rest of the way the GTs managed to hang on to win the set 25-20.
New England held a slight advantage throughout most of set four, with the Golden Tornadoes threatening several times but never actually drawing even. The Pilgrims won the frame 25-19 to force the decisive fifth set.
It appeared the Pilgrims would take set five at first as they gained a 7-4 advantage early on, but Geneva responded well with kills from Baird, Mitan, and Seboe. A 6-1 Golden Tornado run to close the set handed Geneva their second victory of the weekend and third of the young season.
Baird led the way for the women in match two, picking up 13 kills on .314 hitting in what was potentially the best match of her career thus far. Elkins was the team's digs leader, registering 21 across the five sets, while sophomore Ruthie Baird recorded 18 digs of her own. Junior
Laura Goonewardene split the setting duties with Kephart, with the two players notching 21 and 20 assists, respectively.
The women are set to play their first home match of the season on Wednesday, September 9, at 7:00 p.m. After that, they will head to Virginia for a weekend tournament at the University of Lynchburg.
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).
