ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Elizabethtown men's volleyball team fell in its season-opener to Geneva, 3-1, Friday night in Thompson Gymnasium
 
Senior Nick Baxter racked up a double-double to start the year, finishing with 17 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Steve Swain was second on the team with 10 kills, while freshman Dan Barckholtz dished out 32 assists.
 
Sophomore Anthony Baronio registered a double-double for the Golden Tornadoes as well, tallying 13 kills and 15 assists. Junior Quinn McCracken joined Baronio recording double-digit kills with 12.

ELIZABETHTOWN 1, GENEVA 3 (24-26, 25-22, 20-25, 23-25)

• SET ONE: The Blue Jays looked ready to take a 1-0 lead in the match after Baxter hammered home a kill from freshman Joey Nelson to make the first set score 24-19. Geneva however mounted a rally, scoring three straight timeouts to force an Elizabethtown timeout. The Blue Jays could not take back to the momentum in the opening set as the visitors rattled off the final four point to take set one, 26-24.
• SET TWO: The Golden Tornadoes looked as if they were hanging on to the momentum in the second set, holding a four point advantage late (18-14), but freshman Tony Camillo started a run for Elizabethtown with a kill. Junior Steve Schreffler followed that up with an ace, making the score 18-16. After a point by Geneva, the Blue Jays rattled off four straight points to move back ahead, 20-19. The Golden Tornadoes tied the match at 20 and then again at 21 before Elizabethtown scored four of the final five points to tie the match at one with the 25-22 victory.
• SET THREE: Falling behind by two (13-11) midway through the third set, the Blue Jays knotted up the frame after kills by freshman Blake Hildebrand and Barckholtz. The Golden Tornadoes however used a 7-3 run to go up, 20-16, and force an Elizabethtown timeout. Geneva added to its lead, forcing set point at 24-17. The Blue Jays scored three straight points to move within four, but the visitors closed out the third to move ahead 2-1 with the 25-20 win
• SET FOUR: Down 11-8 to start the fourth, Elizabethtown brought it all the way back to 12-12 with a 4-1 rally fueled by kills from Camillo and Baxter. After a Golden Tornadoes timeout, the Blue Jays continued to press and proceeded to move ahead by one (16-15) after a kill by Swain and then an attacker error by Jake Williams. Geneva responded and forced an Elizabethtown timeout after four straight points from the visitors. The Blue Jays would come out of the timeout and manage to tie the frame at 22 after back-to-back kills by Baxter, but the Golden Tornadoes closed out the match after a timeout with three of the final four points for the opening season win, 3-1.

 

• NEXT MATCH
  Elizabethtown continues its run of six home matches to start the season, welcoming Alvernia on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Opening serve is set for 8 p.m.