As Richmond made a run to the NCAA tournament in 2019 and dashed to a 7-0 start in 2020, Ziemba focused on her recovery and gained a new perspective from the sidelines. She couldn’t run for a year after surgery, so she spent her time split between physical therapy and shadowing coaches from the sidelines. She even spent one plane ride home from a road trip next to an assistant coach, learning how to cut film.
She was planning on returning to the field in 2020, but the pandemic offseason allowed her even more time to recover and come back stronger. When the Spiders lined up against the Highlanders last weekend — 345 days since they’d last taken the field, and even longer since Ziemba had been on it with them — the comeback felt even sweeter.
“The way I see it is that I’ve been watching my favorite players for the past two years, and now it’s a dream come true to be able to play with them, alongside them,” she said. “I’m really grateful to be back and to be able to have success with them.”
Ziemba fit seamlessly into Richmond’s offense against Radford, assisting redshirt-senior Sam Geiersbach from behind the cage on the second possession of the game and scoring on her own from the eight-meter arc two minutes later.
The Spiders’ next test will likely be their biggest of the regular season, a matchup against No. 18 Virginia on Friday. Richmond took down the Cavaliers in overtime last season, the first win over their in-state rivals in 14 years, and while the Spiders own the higher ranking this time around, it’s still sure to be an exciting matchup.
Two years, nine months and 23 days away from the field taught Ziemba to appreciate and savor every game, play and experience. Whatever the rest of her final season at the college level has in store, she’ll be cherishing it.
“I’ve been playing since I was in third grade and just looking back on everything the sport has given me, everything I’ve learned and how I’ve grown as a person, I’m really trying to give back this season,” she said. “I’m having fun with the playing part and I love to compete, but I also feel like my greater purpose is to leave this program with a great foundation to keep climbing up those ranks in the future.”