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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Multiple Lady Blues go up for a block attempt in their opening game Monday, June 23. The Lady Blues picked up multiple dominant wins on the night. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Ruby Shaffer lines up for a serve Monday, June 23. The Lady Blues second team picked up multiple points in a win with Shaffer at the service line. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kaden Atwood lines up for a serve Monday, June 23. Atwood has emerged as one of the standout players for the Lady Blues in the summer league. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Newcastle attempts a kill on the right side of the net Monday, June 23. The Ladycats picked up wins in both their matches. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Hannah Hill attempts a serve Monday, June 23. Hill has been an all around complete player offensively and defensively for the Lady Blues.
Over the month of June, the Graham Lady Blues and Newcastle Ladycats have been competing in summer league tournament matches hosted at Graham High School. Their final week of games just concluded this week.
Like usual, the games took place Monday, June 24. Both teams faced a bevy of different opponents. The Lady Blues faced off against Burkburnett, Mineral Wells and Breckenridge across their two teams playing.
The Ladycats on the other hand, took on Breckenridge and Garner.
Just like week one, the Lady Blues first team opened the final night of summer league play with a matchup against Burkburnett’s second team and came out with a dominant 43-24 win.
Graham was in control early through the first 10 minutes holding onto a 14-10 lead. This is when Kya Cooper helped the team start to pull away in the middle portion of the match. Cooper set up a pass for a kill during that stretch while also collecting an ace at the service line to help Graham jump out to a 20-13 lead.
Tara Dawson and Emily Hughes also showed out once Graham passed the 20-point mark and ultimately the team never looked back leading to a dominant victory to open the night.
The first team also went on to play Breckenridge’s first team later in the night.
The second team for the Lady Blues started off their night with a matchup against Mineral Wells and ended things against Breckenridge’s second team where they also dominated with a 42-28 victory.
For the team from Graham, the game was made at the service line. Meea Noyola picked up an ace during the middle portions of the game to put the team out in front with a 15-8 lead.
They also had a successful run with Ruby Shaffer at the service line creating even further distance in the score 25-16. By the time Graham passed the 30-point mark, Breckenridge had only managed to score three more points and the team looked dominant all the way to the end.
Coach Marci Faulk, who was once again in attendance observing the teams, said that she believes both teams have made great strides over the past month.
“If you look at all six teams (including junior varsity) there’s been tons of growth,” Faulk said.
She also went on to say she believes the number one area that they have seen growth is through their confidence in one another. That is something that came naturally over the course of getting reps with teammates across the past month.
Newcastle also had a nice day to end the summer league. They picked up a tight back and forth win against Breckenridge 36-31 and ended the night with a 35-31 victory over Garner.
Both games played out in a similar style where the Ladycats would jump out to a hot start, then their opponent would start to counter and fight back. This would be followed with a bit of back and forth period with multiple lead changes and finally Newcastle would find a way to pull away with two wins.
For Grayson Kayelyn Nunez, she has seen positive growth from the Ladycats over the past month and is excited for the season.
“Last week was my first game with them,” Nunez said. “I feel like we’ve gotten closer and together and we’ve become better since last week.”
Now with the summer leagues wrapped up, all eyes will turn to the Jon Smith Memorial Volleyball Showcase for the Lady Blues taking place July 18-19.
