AUSTIN, Texas — On the final play of the season, the ball found ADDY BADLEY one last time, and for a moment, the entire year crystallized into a single swing.

Senior Day was already layered with emotion. Family and friends packed the stands for the season's finale, there to see Badley and JORDAN CHAPMAN in the huddle one last time. Teammates lingered a beat longer between points, soaking in the details. And when Badley rose to deliver the win, it wasn't just a point. It was punctuation. It was an answer.

When first-year head coach Jeremy Garcia arrived on the Hilltop last February, he posed a question he returned to throughout the season: What do you want from your time at St. Edward's?

"Our priority was making this experience one they looked forward to returning to every semester and celebrating beyond graduation," Garcia said. "We let them know we cared about them and were invested in their success, but that also requires buy-in. Are you showing up? Do you want to be here? If the answer is yes, then this is what we need from you."

The fall began with uncertainty, still carrying the weight of the previous season. St. Edward's entered the Lone Star Conference preseason poll at No. 13, a ranking Garcia believed reflected more on last year's collapse — marked by a midseason coaching departure — than the potential of the roster.

Opening weekend reinforced the challenge. The Hilltoppers dropped a three-set match to Southwest Baptist, then were reverse-swept by Minnesota State-Moorhead, continuing a troubling trend from the year before: blown 2–0 leads and five-set losses.

"The five-set losses aren't an elephant in the room because we talk about it pretty openly," Garcia said. "Not only did we lose, but we were up 2–0 and lost in five. It could've been a moment where they convinced themselves nothing had changed, but they didn't allow it."

St. Edward's responded the next day with a four-set win over East Central. Badley, who told Garcia she wanted her senior year to be about competing and winning, celebrated her birthday with 18 kills — and delivered Garcia his first career coaching victory. Two weeks later, the Hilltoppers swept their home-opening weekend with wins over UT Dallas and Cameron, extending the momentum to a three-match winning streak.

The first home win, played in front of family and a supportive crowd, made the program's ideals tangible.

"Whenever you compete in a jersey with a school's name on it, there are going to be people in the stands expecting something from you," Garcia told his team. "There are family members who've invested time and money into your journey. There are friends who want you to succeed. Those two wins brought everything we'd talked about into existence."

Those moments mattered, especially through the adversity that followed. St. Edward's dropped its first five conference matches, including contests against three of the top five seeds in the LSC Tournament.

"For every program, once you get into mid-October, something happens," Garcia said. "People get frustrated, things go awry — it's human nature. But even when things were down, this group still brought energy to the gym. There was a desire to show up prepared to improve every day. That was the biggest switch."

The season reached a crossroads after two home losses in October. Next on the schedule was Texas A&M–Kingsville, which had opened conference play 5–0 and was coming off an upset of No. 10 West Texas A&M. St. Edward's altered its routine, traveling the morning of the match instead of the day before to allow for an extra day of preparation.

Even with a strong week of practice, Garcia and his staff weren't sure what to expect.

The Hilltoppers dominated.

"We won in four sets and controlled the entire match," Garcia said. "Even when we dropped a set, there was never a moment they weren't confident they'd win the next point, the next set, the match. During timeouts, the players were driving the bus. As a coach, it was great to sit back and watch them realize how good they could be."

The night became a breakthrough for freshman and sophomore middles GRACE MCDONALD and CARRINGTON JAIMES, who delivered career performances in a season defined by selflessness.

"For them, it was about understanding their roles," Garcia said. "We're not the biggest team, so success comes from pin-to-pin offense. We asked them to focus on blocking, getting touches, and transitioning hard. It's tough to commit to the details when you're not getting as many swings, especially as a young player. But they bought in."

St. Edward's avoided a trap match the next day at Texas A&M International, and sophomore setter Althea Morris earned LSC Setter of the Week for orchestrating the offense. In her second season, the team captain grew into a steady, influential leader.

"She's a quiet leader who leads by example," Garcia said. "Her growth was realizing that when she speaks, people listen. We changed the offense to something she hadn't run in a while, and each week she took more command and made it hers."

KELLI FORDING emerged as one of the conference leaders in kills and kills per set, pairing a powerful arm with improved shot selection to earn All-LSC Second Team honors.

"She hits the ball hard, but that's not always enough when teams put two or three in front of her," Garcia said. "Her growth came from taking pace off and controlling the ball. That's why the conference recognized her."

After losing her starting role for several weeks, MIA CLAY surged late in the season, providing balance to the attack and earning All-LSC Honorable Mention after moving seamlessly from the bench into six rotations when needed.

In the back row, sophomore libero GISELLE OJEDA unlocked the league-best potential Garcia and assistant coach Taylan Cook believed she possessed, anchoring a deep defensive unit alongside BEA ANGELES, BRENNA HEFFRON, and DELANEY GREGORY.

"We had some emotional conversations with Giselle," Garcia said. "She's her own harshest critic. Our message was to fly around and be the libero she wants to be, because she's good enough. Once she believed it, you could see her demand more of herself and her teammates. When we were successful, it was because the back row was playing well."

St. Edward's didn't transform into a powerhouse. This isn't a storybook ending. It's not an ending at all. But the Hilltoppers answered every setback with a response, every loss with a win. They closed the season winning five of their final seven matches, including three straight to finish the year.

They played with purpose, fighting for a final LSC Tournament spot. When those hopes ended before the final weekend, they played for something else: each other.

"They played for Addy and Jordan, two teammates who gave everything to this program," Garcia said. "And it was about carrying momentum forward. An 8–9 record is a much better conversation than 6–11, and they responded by playing at a high level."

When asked what she wanted from her final year at St. Edward's, Badley said she wanted to compete and win. Her final swing is something that will last long past graduation — not as the end of a career, but as the opening line of a new era of St. Edward's volleyball.