Hog season over
The 2025 Javelina Spring season was one to remember. From the first ever season for stunt, record season wins in beach volleyball, upsets in basketball and just pure dominance in track and field, this spring’s Javelinas have shown up and shown out.
For Javelina Nation this Spring marked the first season of Javelina’s Stunt.
With the start of a new program there’s going to be some bumps along the way. “Just learning to see where each player excels the most was probably the toughest part,” Lindsey Garcia, head stunt and cheer coach, said. “However, I think the team did a really good job of stepping up when they need to or saying ‘Hey, let’s have this person here because I think they can do a good job,’ and so I think that was our strong point this year, learning the ins and outs.”
The team saw their first win in the program’s history against St. Edward’s University. They would go on to beat the Hilltoppers again in the first round of the LSC tournament before falling in the second round to Dallas Baptist University. Overall, the stunt team in their first official season finished with a 5-13 record and a postseason victory.
The Javelina Tennis team possibly finished the hottest of all teams winning seven of their last 10 matches of the season.
“I think a factor that helped us a lot was keeping our doubles teams together so that they could play a lot, and grow some chemistry and teamwork. I think our doubles was the biggest factor out of anything that helped us in our matches,” Head Tennis Coach Autumn Wollenzien said.
The team managed to finish the season with a 12-7 record. With some notable key wins against ranked opponents in the LSC. One of those victories came against 23 ranked DBU where they won the match in a 4-3 victory. They would also put another 4-3 victory over 21 ranked Lubbock Christian University in a thrilling fashion.
The team finished their regular season with a victory landing them the fifth seed in the LSC tournament. The ladies faced off against UT-Tyler in the quarterfinals of the tournament Thursday, May 1, where their season would come to an end in a 1-4 match.
Going into the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Championship tournament the Hogs were coming in off a 5-3 record from their previous two tournaments.
“The last three weeks of the season our girls really started coming into what we’ve been teaching and coaching, and they started getting better and better,” Head Beach Volleyball Coach Gary Payne said. “Starting with the tournament in Corpus all the way through the National Championship game our girls competed harder than they did earlier in the season.”
Beach volleyball had the best season since their 2021 season. The team finished with a new season wins record with 25 wins. That shattered their previous wins total of 20 in the 2018 season. Also, the team competed in the Semifinals of the AVCA Gold Bracket which was the first time for the team since the 2021 season.
Women’s basketball excelled finishing the 2024-25 season 18-12 and the sixth seed of the LSC Championship Tournament.
A few standout players were junior forward Shelby Ray and sophomore Kaycee Groves. Ray led the team in points (292), total rebounds (150) and blocks (16). Groves would be that do-it-all player for the team finishing first on the team in steals (46), second in blocks (11) and rebounds (135). She would also be third on the team in points (241).
Although, in the season the ladies weren’t led by any specific player. It’s something Head Coach Michael Madrid preaches to the team. “It’s a testament to our program and what we’ve done here in the last six years,” Coach Madrid said. “Everywhere I’ve been we’ve never been a one-on-one mentality. Everything for us is always team, team, team.”
In the first round of the LSC Championship Tournament the women’s team would take on the fifth ranked team in the nation in University of Texas at Tyler. However, the team would still rally for a 65-56 Javelina upset.
The victory would mark the first conference tournament win since 2017 for the Javelinas. The team would lose in the next round against Lubbock Christian University in a close 54-67 defeat.
The Javelina Men’s Basketball team went into the season with second year Head Coach Omar Gonzalez. They finished going 11-17, 10 of those losses by 10 or fewer points, on the season and the Hogs finished 12th in the LSC.
“The biggest thing that we have to reflect on is – ‘How can we have overcome the hump on a lot of those games that were really close?’” Coach Gonzalez said.
“When we came back as a team and self-evaluated, it all came down to one thing. We got to get tougher in certain aspects. That’s all we’ve been working on this offseason because the leagues are not going to get easier, so we gotta figure out how to get tougher.”
Standout players for the Hogs this season were graduate student guard Isaiah Payne and junior Allen Singleton. Payne led the team in points (367), field goal percentage (49.4%), and was second in steals (32). Payne was also awarded with an All-Conference selection. Singleton led the team in assists (92), steals (52) and was second on the team in scoring (288).
In golf, where you place isn’t always indicative of who you are, it’s always the lessons you learn that matter the most.
“The individual atmosphere amongst the players and how they grew as players. I’m extremely proud of them for sticking to the process and really knowing that the process takes time to develop. Dive into that and you’re going to wreak the rewards,” Head Golf Coach Troy Lopez said.
In the LSC tournament that was from April 21 to 22 the Javelinas finished in 10th place out of 12 teams.
Zoe Dean finished with a top 25 spot in the tournament. But with a relatively young group many of the athletes, around six players, will be returning next semester to continue their collegiate career repping the blue and gold.
The 2025 season for Javelina Softball had its ups and downs throughout the season. The 24-31 record can only tell someone so much. Standout freshman and two-time LSC Pitcher of the Week Arianna Alaniz finished in second place in the LSC for strikeouts (200) which is the sixth time a Javelina player has reached this mark in the school’s history. She was also eighth in opposing batting average (.223), and finished 12th in ERA (3.13). On the offensive side, the Javelinas third base freshman Alexis Soliz would make a name for herself on the team with being second in batting average (.329), hits (56), tied for second in doubles (10), and third on the team in runs (27).
With a roster holding a multitude of starting freshmen the Javelinas really had a season of learning, with about five to six underclassmen starting any given game.
Lindsey Evans also helped carry the offensive load. Evans followed up her impressive 2024 season with an even more dominant 2025 outing. She was honored to the 2025 NFCA DII Player of the Year Watchlist at the end of March. She was first in almost every statistical category on the team that includes batting average (.414), runs (39), hits (70), home runs (10), RBIs (39), base-on-balls (35), tied for first in triples (3), and second on the team in doubles (12).
The Hogs ended their final home game of the season with a walk-off hit by senior Vincent Sanchez. The following week they would finish 27-23 on the season, and with a chance in the LSC Tournament dance.
With Sanchez being the lone returner on the offensive side of the plate, the Javelinas entered the season leaning on a major strength: their pitching staff. The group was anchored by a strong duo—UTSA graduate transfer Ulises Quiroga and redshirt freshman Tyler Schumann.
“The pitchers can’t go out and win a game, what we ask them to do is give your team a chance to win. Stay away from the big innings, give your team a chance to score some runs, get them off the field quickly and for the most part they’ve been really consistent with that game plan,” Head Baseball Coach Jason Gonzales said.
Quiroga finished the season top 10 in five pitching categories in the LSC. Those include ERA (4.66), opposing batting average (.246), strikeouts (68), wins (7) and saves (4). He was also named LSC Pitcher of the Week back in week five of the season.
In his first year on the mound for the Javelinas, Schumann quickly established himself as a key arm. In week 10 he was named LSC Pitcher of the Week, and with 17 appearances and only three starts he finished the year with the second most wins with a record of 5-3. Of the four pitchers that faced over 180 at bats on the team Schumann allowed the lowest opposing batting average (.242), earned runs allowed (18), hits allowed (44) and ERA (3.40).
On the offensive side, Sanchez would lead the team in at bats (164), OPS (.905), hits (55), doubles (15) and RBIs (32).
As they head into the LSC tournament the Hogs face the two seeded UT-Tyler, but with a shot at the Ball Coach Gonzales still has high hopes for the boys.
“They’re being rewarded for a bunch of hard work, and I told them Sunday, ‘Now everybody’s 0-0,’” Coach Gonzales said. “It’s just a renewed energy and renewed excitement. There’s a lot of teams today around the country that are picking up uniforms, and our guys are still playing.”
Track season is far from over, but the team has already given us plenty to talk about. Starting with the women’s track team who have broken record after record. These records have been the 4x400m relay that was broken twice in the indoor season and broke the Cactus Cup record time. The athletes who took part were Vitiana Robert, Cynai Christopher, Sakara Wade and Oneika Brissett.
Jazmin Ray would break the school’s Triple Jump record not once, not twice but on three separate occasions. Afaf Benhadja would write her name in the history books breaking the Women’s Pentathlon record.
Just when you think it’s over, you realize we’re not even close to being done. Madison Ramos would follow suit breaking the record for High Jump. Maya Espinosa broke the Women’s 1500m record. Then Ivanova Yanes would break both the Women’s 5k and Women’s 10k records.
Just like the ladies the lads have been rewriting history. It started off with the 4x400m relay team breaking their school record a day after the women’s team. Less than a month later Sterling Riles, Tony Benitez, Cody Fountain and Taylor Chaney would yet again break the record at the LSC Championship Meet.
It hasn’t only been on the track where the team has dominated. Ronald Mosquera’s throwing numbers have consistently put him among the highest in the nation. He’s had top five throws in shot put and discus this season in both the indoor and outdoor season.
David Guzman would also hold the second top throw in the nation for shot put before getting bested by his teammate Mosquera. Thomas Nieto broke the Cactus Cup record in pole vault just a few weekends ago.
Oveall, for the track season they have absolutely dominated the record books. In the season they have seen 12 Athlete of the Week selections, nine LSC IT&F Champions, 14 All-LSC First Team selections, six All-American First Team finishes and four All-American Second Team finishes. That’s all for the Javelina Track and Field team as the head back from competing at the LSC Outdoor Championships that were held in Portales, New Mexico.
Javelina Nation may be sitting in one of the hardest conferences in the nation, but time after time the Hogs show they can put up a fight.