Beaver Falls, PA - The Geneva College women′s volleyball team made history a year ago with the most single season victories in school history with an overall record of 26-5. On Saturday night, the Golden Tornadoes made a little more history and this time around it made all the other teams in the Presidents′ Athletic Conference stand up and take notice. In the first year of eligibility, the Golden Tornadoes clinched the PAC regular season title on Saturday as they picked up a 3-0 victory over Westminster and a 3-1 decision over Thomas More. The doubleheader sweep moved Geneva′s overall record to 21-7 and improved its conference championship mark to an impressive 16-1. With only one regular season match remaining on the schedule, the Golden Tornadoes clinched first place, the top seed in the conference tournament and home court advantage in the PAC tournament beginning the first week of November.
The day started with a 3-0 sweep of rival Westminster by scores of 25-22, 25-13, 25-20. The night cap saw Geneva drop the first game 25-19 to Thomas More before winning the final three games 25-22, 25-23, 25-22.
In the first match of the day, Maggie Bowersox led the offensive attack with 2 kills while Erin Smith, Rachel Kuegler and Ashley Davis each had eight. Deanna Briody led the way with 36 assists while senior Brianna Mixter had a team high 21 digs. Mixter and Kuegler were playing their final regular season matches at Metheny Fieldhouse but with the doubleheader sweep they will be back in action at home for the PAC semi-finals on November 5th.
More balance on offense for Geneva proved to be the deciding factor in its victory over Thomas More in the night cap. Kristland McCracken had a team best 13 kills with Bowersox posting 11 kills and Davis and Kuegler picking up ten each. Bowersox and McCracken each had a pair of service aces to help Geneva′s cause. Briody picked up 48 more assists in the win against Thomas More while PAC dig leader Brianna Mixter added 25 to her total.
The Golden Tornadoes will travel to Chatham next Thursday to close out the regular season and will then head to Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Friday and Saturday to compete in the NCCAA East Regional tournament. Geneva will face Houghton and Roberts Wesleyan on Friday in pool play with the elimination round taking place next Saturday. As far as the PAC tournament goes, Geneva will get a first round bye and will then host a pair of semi-final matches on November 4th with the two winners advancing to the conference championship match on Saturday, November 5th.
Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
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