Beaver Falls, PA – Geneva and Thiel hooked up in a memorable classic in women′s volleyball on Thursday night. If this is a glimpse into the future as to the caliber of volleyball in the PAC, fans will be rewarded for years to come. The Golden Tornadoes rallied to take the final two games of the match and sneak by the Tomcats 3-2. The victory moved Geneva to 3-3 overall for the season and dropped Thiel to 6-2.

Both teams split the first two games by identical 30-19 scores, but it was game three that got the juices flowing on both sides. Thiel rallied for a memorable 36-34 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. With Thiel leading by as many as eight points in game four, Geneva came back for a 30-28 victory. In the fifth and deciding game, Geneva led throughout, but it wasn′t until the final point that the Golden Tornadoes could breathe easy with a tightly contested 15-13 victory.

Geneva was led offensively by the high flying act of senior Marisa Barickman. At times, putting the team on her back, Barickman finished the match with a career best 27 kills. Caryn Azure gets a big pat on the back for her ability to feed Barickman with 57 assists at night′s end.

Playing its first home match of the season, the Golden Tornadoes gave their students and fans something to remember for a long time. Geneva will now take to the road to open AMC North play with three matches in the state of New York this weekend. Matches at Daemen, Roberts Wesleyan and Houghton will be played within a 24-hour span on Friday and Saturday. The Golden Tornadoes will return to Metheny Fieldhouse to host Mt. Vernon Nazarene next Thursday night.