Covenant volleyball has been waiting for Cara Hamil to get completely back in the mix for a little bit now after she sprained her ankle. Last week, she returned to the back line and gave the Eagles a boost in the Blue Ridge Athletic Conference tournament.
Tuesday, she was fully ready to go and the Eagles, in turn, looked fully ready to go, rolling 3-0 past Norfolk Christian with a dominant, dynamic offensive performance. With the victory, the No. 3-seeded Eagles head to the VISAA Division II state final four.
Hamil went right back to posting her usual stat-sheet stuffing line from before the injury with eight kills, 11 digs and four aces in an impressive return to form where the Eagles won 25-14, 25-16 and 25-21 for the sweep.
“My team has been so supportive of me and I wouldn’t have been able to come back without their support,” Hamil said. “Joining the lineup as a full outside is crazy. It’s a miracle, I wasn’t supposed to be back.”
Her return also allowed for the Eagles to rekindle their unpredictable offense that forces teams to cover the entire net as Kella Lemcke finished with a team-high 10 kills and Kerrigan Poindexter and Miller Grimes each had six to go with Hamil’s eight-kill output.
“Since Cara went down, people have had to step up for leadership and now that she’s back we’re doing really well,” Lemcke said. “Maya’s sets were really good tonight, our passing was great. We just did a great job executing.”
Lemcke also essentially closed out game three with a strong run at the service line, an impressive moment for the eighth grader who has been thrust into a key role for the Eagles.
“She brings so much energy to our team – I forget she’s an eighth grader because she’s such a great player and she brings so much joy to our team,” Hamil said.
Lemcke had her own full cheering section at the game as the Blue Ridge School basketball team that’s coached by her father Cade Lemcke, piled in a school bus to support the Covenant starter.
“They’re all like big brothers to me, I go to my dad’s practices and cheer them on so it was great they could come watch me play for the first time,” Kella Lemcke said.
Setter Maya Veselinovic had a big game too with 25 assists, three aces and seven digs. The junior also brought the energy in game three when the Eagles faltered early. After Covenant went down 4-0, they stormed back and equalized at 4-4, Veselinovic got fired up and shoved Grimes so hard in the celebration that the sophomore middle fell over. It was one of the only miscues of the night for Covenant.
“This is the third time that we’re in the state final four and I think this is the time that we can make it through and get to the final, I think our whole team is excited,” Hamil said.
Now Covenant will try and bring that same energy the rest of the week. The Eagles will face Virginia Academy in the state semifinals Thursday at 5 p.m. on the road.
