Full-Circle Story: Zorn and Hicks Share Special Connection at SFA

NACOGDOCHES, Texas- When Madi Zorn was a kid at a Saint Mary's volleyball camp, she met a college player she instantly admired: Madi Wilkerson [Hicks]. Years later, as Zorn's collegiate career drew to a close, that connection came full circle at Stephen F. Austin. The setter who once looked up to Wilkerson [Hicks] from across the net now plays for her.

"Coach Madi was the libero for Saint Mary's, and growing up watching her I always wanted to be just like her," Zorn said. "I definitely could not ask for a better way to end my career."

Their story is one of mentorship that kept showing up at the right moments, from a camp court in California to a final season in Nacogdoches.

A Camp Idol Becomes a Coach
Zorn first met Hicks at a Saint Mary's summer camp when she was about 10 or 12. "She invested time into helping me get better," Zorn said. "I think she might have even been the first person to teach me how to jack a back-set across the court."

Over the years, the connection deepened. Zorn's family hosted team dinners when Saint Mary's played Gonzaga in Spokane, and she kept in touch with Hicks long after the camp. When Zorn was choosing a college, she called Hicks for honest advice about the Gaels. And when she arrived on campus, she even picked Hicks's old number. "I was so happy that number 10 was available because Coach Madi had been number 10 all her years," Zorn said.

Even then, she didn't realize how much that relationship would shape her future.

Learning to Lead Like a Gael
At Saint Mary's, Zorn learned what it meant to lead from behind the scenes. "The most important thing I learned was how to be a servant leader," she said. As a redshirt freshman, she stayed late to clean the locker room and do whatever her teammates needed. "It's easy to think that if you aren't contributing on the court in games that you aren't doing any good, but my time at SMC taught me that everything you do affects your teammates and it matters."

She also carried forward a set of team values that became second nature: Master the Boring, Take Coaching as Feedback, Parent's Opinions Are Subjective, Do Not Complain, Feed the Positive, and Celebrate Others' Success. "After hearing it so much, these things have become a part of the way I think," Zorn said. "Hopefully I have been able to add them in with the great culture we already have here."

As a setter, those lessons shaped how she leads within her position group. "The setter position has a little team within the team," she said. "The most important thing is making sure every single person on the team knows how much you care about them, so that when you need to demand certain things it's taken in a positive way."

The Transfer Call That Changed Everything
When Zorn entered the transfer portal, she wasn't expecting the message that popped up during class. "It said something like, 'Hi I don't know if you remember me, but this is Madi Hicks… I saw you are in the portal and I coach at SFA. We are looking for a setter,'" Zorn said. "I remember reading that and my heart kind of jumped from excitement."

That text became the turning point. "Knowing Madi was the main reason that I came to SFA," Zorn said. "I have always trusted her guidance, and I knew that she would not lead me astray."

Once she visited campus and met the team, everything clicked. "This is the God-centered community I had been praying for," she said.

For Hicks, too, the moment felt meaningful. "It's truly been a blessing and has reminded me why I got into coaching in the first place," Hicks said. "Coaching Madi in her last year and seeing her love for the game is still what it was at camp all those years ago is so special!"

Full Circle in Nacogdoches
Now, the setter who once learned from Hicks at camp sits across from her in film sessions and chats with her over coffee. Even though Hicks works primarily with passers, the two check in throughout matches and stay connected off the court. "It definitely feels full circle for me to be playing for one of my idols I had growing up," Zorn said.

Their shared Saint Mary's background gives them a common language. "I feel like I can make [adjustments] really quickly because we are speaking the same language," Zorn said. "I knew the minute she reached out I was not going to turn down the opportunity to play for someone I have looked up to so much for most of my life."

They still laugh about old Gaels memories like sprinting through airports while their head coach calmly rolled by on a skateboard, or diving into pancake ladders in front of the campus rec center windows. "We definitely had a chuckle about that one," Zorn said.

What matters most to both is how the relationship has come to define a special season. "With it being her last year and for us getting to be a part of not just one but TWO amazing programs together, it's a full-circle moment," Hicks said.

And for Zorn, there's no better way to close her college career than with the coach who helped shape the very beginning of it.

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Madi Zorn

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