When the year-end volleyball record books get updated at University of the Pacific, they’ll reflect an indelible mark left on the program by the senior class.

The West Coast Conference will have to make a significant record book update as well.

Graduate student Alexa Edwards ’24, the 2024 WCC Player of the Year, cemented herself as the all-time leader in career kills in the rally scoring era for both Pacific and the West Coast Conference with 1,925. She tallied 563 this season—the eighth-most in single season history at Pacific.

Assisting her throughout her career was senior Jenna Heller ’25, who will leave a legacy as one of Pacific’s most prolific setters with the sixth most career assists in program history. Heller dished out 3,701 assists in her four years at Pacific.

Edwards and Heller, the daughters of former Pacific student-athletes Cathy Lumb-Edwards ’84 and Melanie Beckenhauer-Heller ’92, were both multi-time All-Conference selections. Edwards was selected to the 2024 All-Conference First-Team and was a three-time All-Conference honoree. Heller earned Honorable Mention and was a two-time All-WCC recipient.

Additionally, Edwards and Heller were two of five WCC All-Academic honorees along with Dylan Gilkey ‘27, Darina Kumanova ‘24 and Megan Nishimura ‘24. Edwards, Gilkey and Nishimura were tabbed to the First-Team, while Heller and Kumanova were slotted with Honorable Mention.

Heller joins her mother in nearly the same record book categories more than 30 years later.

“I knew the second I came to college that she held all the records, and she holds a lot of the records for not even just setting. It was a big goal of mine to at least beat one of her records, and I finally passed her in one thing,” Heller said. “When I had hard days, I was always able to call her knowing that she’d been through the same things I did. She was always in my corner and assured me that she’d been through it and I was fine.”

Edwards’ mother made her mark as a graduate assistant on the 1986 National Champion team. Edwards had to navigate not only living up to the high standard her mother set, but also losing her mom prior to her final season. Lumb-Edwards died earlier this year from cancer.

“I miss my mom every day, but at the same time I just step on the court trying to honor her in the best capacity. She was big on saying two things when I play—passion and purpose,” Edwards said.

Edwards and Heller helped Pacific advance to the postseason in each of their four years at Pacific with trips to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. This season, Pacific defeated Weber State in five sets before falling to Arizona in the second round.

When head coach Greg Gibbons looks back at his team over the last four seasons, he said it will be the things that didn’t show up on the box scores that he remembers most.

“In a time where we have girls transferring left and right with the transfer portal, a bigger record is the fact that this graduating class will have been with me for four or five years,” he said. “In a world where that’s extremely uncommon, that’s what I’m going to remember.

“I’ve been recruiting these girls since they were 14 to 16 years old, and I’ve built real relationships with them,” he said. “That never stops, and we’re helping them grow as adults here, on and off the court.” 

Edwards and Heller were two of seven Tigers honored on Senior Day, including Kumanova, Nishimura, Margherita Giani ’25, Abby Miller ’25 and Sam Sublett ’25. Sublett’s mother, Leona Bielefeld-Sublett ’89, was also a former player on the team from 1985-88, helping the Tigers win national championships in 1985 and 1986.

The Senior Day celebration came with a victory as the Tigers erased a two-set deficit to defeat Portland 3-2 on Nov. 30.

“I love these girls, every one of them dearly. I spend more time with them than I do my own family, so it’s just like another family. They’re an extension,” Gibbons said. “My daughter Charlotte comes around and gives high fives and hugs.”

In the years to come when the 2024 Pacific Volleyball team’s story is recounted, the story will not be solely about dominance that can be measured, but by the culture that will long outlive them.