Noble, Hearne named Athletes of the Week

The two athletes selected for this week’s Athletes of the Week each helped their respective teams earn wins in big ways. Lillian Noble of the Lady Blues volleyball team and Jayton Hearne of the Steers football team are The Leader’s Athletes of the Week.

During the week of Thursday, Sept. 7 through Wednesday, Sept. 13, Graham’s volleyball team went 2-0 against North Central Texas Academy and Abilene Christian High, and the football team won big over Glen Rose, a team that beat the Steers twice last season. Both Noble and Hearne played instrumental roles in all the victories.

Lillian Noble, middle blocker, volleyball

Noble contributed in a major way in the Lady Blues’ two wins during the past week. Graham’s volleyball team had lost three matches in a row before ending that streak with a win in five sets over NCTA and a clean sweep in three sets of Abilene Christian.

As one of the tallest girls on the team, Noble contributes heavily on the defensive end with her blocking ability. But she’s really a do-it-all athlete who excels in a variety of areas. In the two matches, Noble had a team-high nine blocks while also adding 17 kills, four digs and five aces.

Against NCTA, Noble had a hitting percentage of 643. The reason that sticks out is that a typical hitting percentage sits around 200 or 300. The junior made major contributions on the offensive side of the ball in the big win over the visiting boarding school.

While Noble possesses the ability to powerfully hit the ball, she uses a lot of trickery when it comes to her offensive mindset. Noble excels at earning points with soft tips that find holes in the opposing defense. As blockers leap to block what they believe is a powerful hit, she places the ball perfectly where nobody can get to it.

“I think sometimes Lillian's our secret, silent threat there,” head coach Marci Faulk said about the third-year varsity starter. “...She’s carrying the load, a big load for us on offense. And then her block’s solid and her serves; I think as of last week she was leading us in aces…and so for a middle (blocker) to do that, that’s pretty impressive.”

Jayton Hearne, linebacker, football

The Steers football team avenged a couple of last-year losses to Glen Rose with a 45-21 win Friday, Sept. 8 over the Tigers. Hearne played a critical role as part of the defense that shut the visitors down in the second half, as the Tigers failed to score a single point after halftime.

Hearne’s biggest highlight of the game came near the end of the first quarter. With the Steers holding just a 7-0 lead early on, Glen Rose set to punt the ball away in their own territory. Hearne broke through the line of scrimmage and blocked the punt which allowed his teammate Jordan Alexander to scoop up the ball and score a touchdown while Hearne provided big blocks on the way.

The junior finished the game with four total tackles in the game but two of those were tackles for loss, with one of them a sack of the opposing quarterback. Hearne excelled at penetrating the Glen Rose offensive line and causing havoc in the backfield.

“He is a naturally aggressive football player and even though he's one of the smaller guys on our defense he packs one of the biggest punches,” Graham defensive coordinator Clay McChristian said about Hearne. “When he is on the field good things tend to happen, because he finds the football well and he is scared of no one.”