Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

The heart doesn't care about timing. It beats when it wants to—when a story begins, when it shouldn't and how it impacts everything.

Especially for the USC Upstate Athletics family.

For Head Coach Ali Skayhan, that sound once echoed from a hospital room in Charleston as monitors tracked the fragile rhythm of her newborn son's heart. For Emma DeSensi, a redshirt junior libero from Louisville, Kentucky, it was the same steady beat that once struggled to keep pace inside her own chest.

Two stories, decades apart—one told through a mother and a coach, the other through an athlete's perseverance—now both come together on the same court.

The USC Upstate Spartans will host their Toys and Tiny Hearts fundraiser match on November 8; it won't just be another game. It will be a celebration of gratitude and giving back, honoring the medical teams who save tiny hearts and the families who never stopped believing.

At just 10 weeks old, Emma's parents were told their baby might not live to see her first birthday. A simple virus had attacked her heart, leading to a condition called dilated cardiomyopathy. Her tiny chest needed help, and within weeks, doctors at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapos inserted a pacemaker to keep her alive.

What followed was uncertainty. Her parents didn't know what kind of childhood Emma could have. Could she run? Could she play? Would her heart keep up?

"I was always energetic," Emma said with a smile. "Once I got healthy, I wanted to do everything. I think my parents needed me to play sports as much as I needed to. They didn't know what my heart could handle, but volleyball was the one with the least cardio. That's how it all started for me."

What began as a safety choice became a true passion. The same heart that once needed help to keep beating began diving saves and long rallies. Volleyball became more than a sport or even an outlet for her; it was proof she could live beyond the limits once placed on her.

By the time she reached high school, Emma had turned into a standout defensive player for powerhouse Assumption High School in Louisville. But even then, her road wasn't easy.

A torn ACL in high school, followed by another knee injury in college, slowed her progress. She spent three years at Colorado rehabbing and redshirting before entering the transfer portal.

"I didn't know what was next," she said. "I had faith that I'd find the right place. When I talked to Coach Skayhan and the staff, they were just real people. Then I saw that Upstate offered nursing, which I had always wanted to do. It felt right."

For Coach Skayhan, that first conversation with Emma and her mom hit closer than she could have imagined.

"I remember sitting at breakfast and her mom mentioning Emma had twelve heart surgeries," Skayhan recalled. "I was like, what? And Emma just shrugged it off—'not a big deal.' For me, as a mom who had just spent a month in the hospital with my own baby, it felt much bigger than a coincidence."

Skayhan's son, Leo, was born last December with a congenital heart defect known as transposition of the great arteries (TGA). At just 14 days old, he underwent open-heart surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

There were nights she didn't know if he would make it. The walls of the pediatric cardiac ICU became her world—until, one day, an unexpected kindness from another family reminded her she wasn't alone.

"This family had lost their child, and they showed up at the hospital with bags of toys for the cardiac unit," Skayhan said. "That small act—it changed the atmosphere. Things felt lighter, even for a moment. I'll never forget it."

When she returned to coaching months later, that feeling of perspective stayed with her.

"You see kids waiting for heart transplants, parents living at the hospital, and it changes how you think about everything," she said. "It reminded me that volleyball is what we do, but it's not who we are."

When Emma joined the team, the bond between player and coach deepened in ways neither expected. Both understood the language of hospital rooms, uncertainty and hope. Both knew what it meant to trust in the unseen rhythm of a heart that refused to quit.

Their connection inspired the Toys and Tiny Hearts fundraiser match—a collaboration born out of gratitude.

"My pitch to anyone donating is simple," Emma said. "You never know what someone's going through. Sometimes the smallest gift means the most. Those toys that support—it reminds families that people care, even if they don't ask for help."

The event will collect toys and donations for the pediatric cardiology unit at Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital at MUSC, where Leo was treated. Every contribution, whether it's a coloring book or an online donation, helps bring comfort to children and families in the toughest moments of their lives.

For Skayhan, it's more than a cause, it's a reflection of what sports can be at their best.

"I never wanted this to feel like we were exploiting a situation," she said. "It's about connection. It's about showing that these are real people, real stories and that giving back matters. For me, it's gratitude. For Emma, it's living proof."

Leo will celebrate his first birthday just ten days after the match. Emma, now 21, has found her place on the court and in the classroom, pursuing nursing with hopes of helping other children the way her care team once helped her.

"I want to understand what happened to me and use that to help others," she said. "If I can be the person who tells a parent it's going to be okay, that means everything."

Toys and Tiny Hearts isn't just about volleyball or victories. It's the bigger picture of the world we live in as humans.

On November 8, when the Spartans take the court against Winthrop, every serve, every rally, every cheer will carry something deeper than competition. It will be a heartbeat ... steady, strong, and full of life.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

For Leo. For Emma. For every tiny heart that keeps fighting.

Editor's Note: Donations will be accepted on-site at the Hodge Center on Saturday, November 8 during the men's basketball home opener vs. Southern Virginia at Noon as well as the volleyball match vs. Winthrop at 4:00 pm.  The complete list of toys and items best suited to donate may be found here.