Graham to host annual Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament

Lady Blues volleyball season is right around the corner and with that comes one of the biggest events of the Graham community’s calendar year – the annual Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament.

Head coach Marci Faulk said this latest entry into its history will be the 22nd year the tournament will be hosted in Graham.

The tournament will take place towards the end of August, with a set up date Thursday, Aug. 21, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and the actual tournament taking place Friday and Saturday, Aug. 22-23.

“The Lu Allen (Tournament) is now the largest high school volleyball tournament in North Texas,” Faulk said. “We have 30 teams, we run six courts, three at the junior high, three at the high school.”

Faulk went on to emphasize that this tournament puts a lot of eyes on the town as she estimated around 14 teams competing in the tournament will be visiting from out of town and staying the night.

“One of my favorite things to do during the Lu Allen is on Thursday night, I drive through town and I love seeing all the school buses at our restaurants,” Faulk said.

On top of the traditional volleyball tournament festivities, Graham will have several local business vendors providing services throughout the weekend.

Not only is this tournament an opportunity for high-level volleyball early in the season, it has special meaning to Graham and the surrounding community.

Martie Lu Fulcher, later known as Coach Lu Allen was born Nov. 30, 1944, in the panhandle town of Dimmitt. She spent many years coaching different sports in multiple spots around the state before arriving in Graham to take over the volleyball program in 1998.

Allen began having success right away with the Lady Blues as she took the team to the playoffs in each of her five seasons, which included a regional tournament run in 2002.

Before the start of her sixth season in Graham, Allen was struck by a car on the evening of July 24, 2003, while retrieving a volleyball from the street outside the high school. While early tests gave signs of optimism, Allen passed away Aug. 3, 2003 at the age of 58.

To honor Allen’s legacy, the Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament was formed. To memorialize the late coach, parents and players of the 2003-2004 Lady Blues volleyball team created the tournament to honor Allen and raise money for a scholarship in her name, which is given to a Lady Blues volleyball player each year.

Atwood said the revenue generated by the vendors and sponsors of this event not only impact the town positively but also the student athletes who compete at the tournament in the form of scholarships.

“All this money and everything that we do is geared towards scholarships for athletes who have been through the (volleyball) program, and we set aside 30% of the proceeds every single year and it is constantly feeding these girls that have been in our program, and helping them go to college,” Atwood said.

The weekend of Aug. 20-22 is looking to be a busy one once again for the community.