BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - February 27, 2021 – Down 2-0, Hiram men's volleyball came all the way back to defeat the Geneva College Tornadoes, 3-2, on Saturday at Metheny Fieldhouse in Beaver Falls, Pa.
Playing their first match since March 2020, the Terriers got off to a slow start, as the Tornadoes rallied off the first seven points of the first set. But Hiram made their way back, cutting the deficit to three on Tom Supan's kill to force a Geneva timeout.
Out of the timeout though, Geneva pulled ahead, taking a six-point, 20-14 lead on a kill by Jake Williams.
Again, the Terriers rallied, rattling off five-straight points to pull within one. However, Geneva held off the tie, taking advantage of an attack error, and stayed out in front the rest of the set to take a one-set lead with a 25-22 victory.
Geneva again took an early lead in the second set, leading 8-4 following a pair of kills from Byron Spear. Hiram would pull within one, but a huge run gave the Tornadoes a 22-11 lead midway through the set, and eventually a 25-15 victory to take set two.
But the Terriers held strong and battled back in set three, this time taking the early lead and holding off a late Geneva charge to pick up a 25-22 third set victory. Dangelo Boehner got things started in the third set with a kill for the Terriers, while Kilvio Montero notched a big kill late to slow a Tornado run and give the Terriers' match point.
The Tornadoes led for much of the early going in the fourth set, before a 6-1 Terrier run gave Hiram its first lead of the set. Geneva stormed back to make it 18-16, but Hiram rattled off 10 of the next 13 points, to take the fourth set, 25-21, and force a decisive fifth set.
And with momentum on their side, Hiram slowly pulled away. A pair of kills by Boehner gave Hiram its first lead of the fifth set, before Supan made it 3-3. From there, Geneva and Hiram traded blows, with neither team able to build much of a lead.
But after a Tornado attack error put the Terrier up two, a pair of kills by Supan and blocks by Boehner, Rock and Supan gave Hiram a 14-8 lead, effectively putting the match away.
The Tornadoes would rally to pull within three, but Supan finished the match off with one of his team-high 22 kills, one-shy of his career high, to give the Terriers a 15-11 fifth-set victory and a 3-2 match victory.
Supan led the Terriers with 22 kills on 58 attacks, while Montero added a career-high 16 kills. Andrew Diaz and Jake Lininger each notched 20+ assists, with Diaz tallying a team-high 29.
Defensively, Cory Fischer notched a program-record 31 digs, shattering the previous record by nine digs, while Boehner added a career-high seven block assists.
As a team, Hiram tallied 59 kills, out-hitting the Tornadoes .245 to .216, including a .520 hitting percentage in the third set and a .417 hitting percentage in the final, fifth set.
With the win, the Terriers move to 1-0 on the year, while Geneva drops to 2-5.
Hiram will be back in action on Wednesday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m. when they travel to Springfield, Ohio for a non-conference matchup against the Wittenberg Tigers.
