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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Lady Blues pose for a photo Saturday, Aug. 23, after the Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. The team took home third place while Kaden Atwood was nominated to the all tournament team. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kaden Atwood clears a ball Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. Atwood earned all tournament honors for the Lady Blues. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Katy McGehee goes up for a kill Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. A total of 32 teams participated in the tournament. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kya Cooper sets up for a serve Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. Cooper’s efforts at the service line helped the team pick up third place in the tournament. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Rylee Moore goes up for a kill attempt Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. Moore has been a constant presence in the front row for the Lady Blues this season.
It was a big weekend for the Graham sports community as the town hosted the annual Lu Allen Memorial Volleyball Tournament. The Lady Blues were one of 32 teams that participated and took home third place on the day.
Head coach Marci Faulk said this latest entry into its history was the 22nd year the tournament was hosted in Graham.
It is the largest high school volleyball tournament in North Texas, according to Faulk, which made her all the more impressed that the team was able to shine with all of the competition.
“I thought that’s the best volleyball we’ve played to date,” Faulk said. “We finished third out of thirty (32) teams. I don’t know if they know the magnitude of that, but that’s huge.”
Graham started off the tournament on a high note winning all three of their day one matches Friday, Aug. 22.
The team kicked off bracket play Saturday, Aug. 23, in the gold bracket against Caprock where once again, the team picked up right where they left off with a three set win.
The Lady Blues dominated the Lady Longhorns in set one jumping out to a 22-7 lead and ultimately finishing it 25-10. After dropping the second set narrowly 26-24, the team bounced back and finished the job grinding out a gritty 25-19 win to advance to the next round.
Players like Kya Cooper, Rylee Moore and Emily Hughes made their presence known throughout the match. Cooper has really dug into her role setting while also providing sneaky power, while Moore and Hughes applied pressure on the front row with strong swings to help seal the win.
Tara Dawson and Katy McGehee were also critical to the group in this match, flashing some mastery at the service line with each picking up aces while also providing power on offense.
Graham went on to pick up another win in two sets against Denver City before moving onto the semifinal match against Shallowater.
The teams fought back and forth in set one but Graham was able to obtain control for a time by taking the lead. After trailing 16-14, Madison Cauble found the open hole in the left side of the defense for a point to make it a one point game.
Cooper followed that up with back to back aces at the service line to give the Lady Blues a 17-16 lead.
The team was able to pull out to a 21-19 lead looking to seal the deal, but it seemed that fatigue may have started to set in on the Lady Blues after two long days. Shallowater ultimately ended up pulling away with a set win 25-22.
It was a similar story in set two also. The team jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start but Shallowater once again fought back just enough to sneak away with a set win to end Graham’s chances of winning the championship match.
The Lady Blues played their final match of the evening against Windthorst. Things did not get off the way the Lady Blues wanted in set one, there were highlights such as Kaden Atwood’s ace at the service line and the team fighting back from a 21-13 deficit, but this was too high a hill to climb as Windthorst took the first set 25-19.
Needing a bounce back to save the match the Lady Blues delivered. The team started out in front but ultimately trailed 11-7 after a time out call. However, Cooper led the team back at the service line to make it a one point game and Hughes cashed in with a kill to tie the game 14 all.
After that, there was no looking back for the Lady Blues as Moore would end things with a couple of nice blocks on the right side of the net and a kill for a 25-19 set win this time.
Graham started set three trailing once again, but Atwood brought the team back with another ace at the service line to make it a one point game. Hadleigh Allen later in the set dimed up Moore perfectly for a kill to give Graham the lead 6-5
McGehee picked up an ace at the line, Dawson and Moore teamed up offensively to lead the way, and the Lady Blues pulled out a match winning third set 25-21.
This win was special not just because the team won third place, but senior Kaden Atwood was given all tournament honors for her play on the court and leadership.
Atwood finished the weekend with 72 digs as the teams defensive specialist but also recorded an additional 11 aces at the service line.
After the Lady Blues took on Boyd in their match Tuesday, Aug. 26, the team will travel to Denver City for the Fillie Festival tournament, Aug. 29-30.
