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(ALEX HAVARDANKSY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Emily Hughes, 10, and Katy McGehee, 1, go up for a block Tuesday, Sept. 23. The Lady Blues held their senior night match against the Brownwood Lady Lions this night. -
(ALEX HARVADANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kaden Atwood prepares to serve for the Lady Blues in their match Tuesday, Sept. 23, against the Brownwood Lady Lions. Atwood is one of seven seniors on the team. -
(ALEX HARVADANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kya Cooper goes up for a block against the Brownwood Lady Lions in their match Tuesday, Sept. 23. Cooper’s tip points at the end of set four helped the Lady Blues pick up a thrilling victory. -
(ALEX HARVADANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Lady Blues senior players were honored Tuesday, Sept. 23. Shown from left to right are head coach Marci Faulk and senior players Madison Cauble, Kathryn Hughes, Tara Dawson, Rylee Moore, Treyton McCullough, Izzy Alejo and Kaden Atwood. -
(ALEX HARVADANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Lady Blues seniors and their families pose for a photo on senior night Tuesday, Sept. 23. The Lady Blues defeated the Lady Lions on this night in four sets. The senior night was a time to honor the players and their families.
It was a special night for the Lady Blues as they hosted their senior night for the team this past week. On top of the festivities, the team capped things off with a close victory over the Brownwood Lady Lions in four sets.
Head coach Marci Faulk took a moment after the game to express her gratitude for being able to coach these young women over the span of four years.
“That is the reason coaches coach,” Faulk said. “Of course we like to win and we hate to lose, but ultimately we’re here for the kids. It’s so rewarding to see them grow up and mature and develop into the young women that they are. To see them reap the rewards of four years of hard work is so rewarding.”
Things got off to a bit of a slow start for the team in set one. They had multiple attempts of fighting back but ultimately fell in the first set 25-20.
Kya Cooper got the team off to a hot start in set two with back to back aces to put the team up 2-0 and Rylee Moore followed this up with a kill to make it 3-1 Graham.
Emily Hughes and Moore then teamed up for a block to make it 4-1.
After some fight from the Lady Lions, Tara Dawson picked up a tip for a point 6-4 and Kaden Atwood picked up a point at the service line to make it 7-4.
Dawson, Cooper and Katy McGehee picked up critical points down the stretch of the set to make it a 25-13 set two victory for the Lady Blues.
Set three was a much closer contest with both teams going back and forth with ties and lead changes.
The team finally started to pull away with a kill from Cooper, Dawson with a soft tip over the net, Madison Cauble with a point, Cooper again with a block and later a Dawson kill to help the team jump out to a 20-15 lead. The team went on to win the set 25-21.
Set four is where things ended in dramatic fashion. After leading the set 20-13, the team struggled down the stretch and eventually fell behind 25-24.
Coach Faulk called timeout and helped steady the team as they went into the home stretch. Graham caught a break on a bad serve from Brownwood to tie things 25 all again.
After that, it was the Cooper show. The sophomore faked out the defense with back to back soft tips over the net to seal the victory for the Lady Blues 27-25.
After the game was a ceremony of seniors, family, friends and fun as the community honored the many pillars of the team.
After facing off against Glen Rose at home Friday, Sept. 26, the team picks things up at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, against Stephenville on the road.
