CHILLICOTHE — With Eveyln Hamman’s record-breaking junior season marching towards an end last year, she shared a moment with her mom that she’ll never forget.
Late in the third set of a tough-luck tournament loss to Sheridan, Evelyn glanced over at her mom — Chillicothe volleyball coach Leslie Hamman — and gently nodded her head.
There were no words. But the gesture said everything that needed to be said.
“We were playing the best volleyball that we absolutely could, but so were they,” Leslie Hamman said. “Evelyn looked at me and we just knew [how the game would end]. She told me later, she said, ‘Mom, I just knew with the way you looked at me, I just needed to have fun. It was going to end the way it was going to end, no matter what we did. I just needed to have fun.’ Those are the moments that we have that are pretty special.”
The result of that night was a straight-set loss to the Generals, effectively ending one of the best, if not the best, individual seasons in program history.
In 23 matches, Evelyn collected a school-record 436 kills while adding 39 aces, 59 blocks and 198 digs to her resume.
She also grabbed single-season records for kills in a set (12) and kills in a match (33), while setting new program records for career kills (1,039) and career blocks (138).
And, heading into this fall, she needs just six aces to surpass the program’s career record of 166.
“At the end of my freshman year, I had 250 kills. It was like, ‘OK, I’m on a perfect track to have 1,000 by my senior year,’” Evelyn Hamman said. “But we have a board with our program records on it and as time passed, I kept looking at it and thinking, ‘OK, I feel like I can accomplish this.’ But having 1,000 career kills and a lot of those records broken before my senior year started, it’s just awesome. I would’ve never thought I’d be able to do that.”
The result of her otherworldly junior campaign garnered first-team all-district and honorable mention All-Ohio honors. But more importantly, it led her Cavaliers to 14-9 mark and a share of the FAC championship — the team’s first league title since 2021.
That’s a train of success she’s hoping to keep on the tracks as she enters her senior year.
“Every time I step into the gym, I try to be competitive,” Evelyn Hamman said. “That’s not to the point where I want to bring my teammates down, but hopefully, where I push them to come up and meet me at that level. But I feel like this team is locked in and ready to play. I think we can have a successful season because of that.”
While the excitement of a new season is present, there’s also a bittersweet edge to it.
When the dust settles, no matter where the Cavaliers end their year, Evelyn will have played her final game at the high school level — and the final game with Leslie looking on as her head coach.
“She likes to wink at me on the court and blow kisses. Things people don’t see, those are the things that are special and the things I’ll miss,” Leslie Hamman said. “The hard part for me is going to be coming back into the gym next fall and knowing she won’t be there. It’ll feel a lot different.”
Separating a mother-daughter bond from a coach-player relationship hasn’t always been easy for the two, especially in the early days.
But that friction is something that’s ironed itself out over time.
“She’s had some of her best coaches that have been with her outside of this program,” Leslie Hamman said. “She’s played for Jimmy Hutton and Laura Smith. So my line to her is always, ‘Would you ever say that to Coach Smith or Coach Hutton? Then you don’t say that to me, either.’ That’s kind of how we got through seasons in the early days. Now, it’s pretty smooth. We usually have one moment each season and then we get through it. But the other moments that are more fun and special definitely outweigh those.”
“It’s been rocky,” Evelyn Hamman added, with a laugh. “The hardest part is separating her from my mom and my coach. When I see her, I think of her as my mom first. So when I get in the gym, I have to remind myself that she’s my coach first. But it’s been awesome having her by my side through it all. I know I can talk to her and we have that connection.”
Evelyn and her teammates will start their season at Amanda-Clearcreek on Tuesday.
The Cavaliers’ non-league schedule includes several top-tier programs, including Gallia Academy, Wheelersburg and New Lexington.
That’s all by design.
“We have a tougher schedule this year,” Leslie Hamman said. “We have high expectations for this group. Now, [winning] is the expectation. We’re going into this season with more confidence than we ever have.”
And step by step, Evelyn, who has committed to play at Gannon University next fall while studying to become a Physician Assistant, will be putting the finishing touches on a legendary legacy.
“My mindset is to, first, take in everything,” Evelyn Hamman said. “It’s my senior year and I don’t want to be so stuck on having to win that it takes away from being with my teammates. I just want to enjoy playing the game. It’s the last year with my friends. I’ve been playing with these girls since seventh grade, so I want to soak up every moment.”
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Chillicothe’s Evelyn Hamman is ready to cap record-breaking career
Reporting by Derrick Webb, Chillicothe Gazette / Chillicothe Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Derrick Webb, Chillicothe Gazette | USA TODAY Network
