Veritas Christian volleyball senior Emma Wilson holds up a trinket given to the senior class by coach Kyle Billings. Billings picked out the Smurfs 13 years ago before bestowing them on the Eagles' 2017-18 senior class.

Emma Wilson could hardly contain her excitement as she sprinted toward the back corner of the gymnasium at East Lawrence Recreation Center.

She found her backpack and dug through the front pocket, eventually revealing a small trinket of a Smurf holding a volleyball. Her smile was undeniable. It was a moment 13 years in the making.

“He’s been saving them,” Wilson said, “for the team he thinks deserves them.”

The “he,” in this case, refers to Kyle Billings. The Veritas Christian volleyball coach picked up the ornaments well before the Eagles’ two victories on Thursday — a two-set sweep over Derby Invasion (25-11, 25-14) and another over Flint Hills Christian (25-4, 25-9).

Billings, who previously owned a toy shop, came across the trinkets more than a decade prior. The playful part of his personality loved the image of the Smurfs, while his sentimental side fixed on the colors of the volleyball, which just so happened to match the school’s.

“It was just obvious,” Billings said. “I just wanted them to have something to remember this year. Something stupid, but something small that they can just take with them wherever they go.”

While Billings waited for the right senior class, the Smurfs sat aside in a cupboard, gathering dust as year after year went by.

When it was finally time, he pulled all the seniors aside to talk about the way the program began and to give them the gift. They, in turn, decided to keep the Smurfs with them at each match, including the senior night finale.

“That’s special,” Billings said.

It was that type of evening.

After a dominant first match that saw major contributions from the senior class of Wilson (6 kills, 21 assists, 6 aces), Chloe Holland (8 kills, 4 aces, 5 blocks, 7 digs), Jessie Swisher (5 kills, 5 aces, 10 digs), Paxton Brittingham (4 kills, 15 digs) and Leandra Fisher (7 aces, 3 blocks), the Eagles went to a back room of the recreation center for a senior night ceremony.

There, the coaches spoke about each of the seniors. Well, that was the plan, at least.

Kim Swisher, the “bad cop” of the coaching staff as described by Holland, passed his statement off to a surrogate because “there’s no way I’m making it through this,” he said.

As his words were read the senior class began to tear up. Swisher described the day as one he’s both looked forward to and dreaded as much as any in his more than two decades of coaching. When the speech was finally done, the room of more than 50 people was silent, at least until Billings broke the tension

“Well that was fair,” joked the coach, drawing uproarious laughter from the crowd. “I’m going to have Morgan Freeman read mine.”

Jokes aside, the tears — and cookies spread out over the table for the ceremony — did little to slow the Eagles’ momentum.

Veritas (35-14, 9-0 KCAA) dominated its second match against Flint Hills, putting together a 16-0 run and winning the first set 25-4 before the underclassmen got the chance to play in the second.

Billings spent much of the final moments away from the court, speaking to his senior class and sharing laughs and memories with them as the match concluded.

The culmination of four years of growth preceded by nine more of anticipation resulted in a memory that “the lucky five seniors,” as described by Holland, will keep with them for a long time.

“I’ve been with these girls since before school even began. It’s a blessing to work with them, work with our coaches who have put in so much time with us,” Holland said. “And we’re planning on bringing home a state championship.”