Lady Blues looking positively at tough week behind them

The last two weeks for the Graham Lady Blues have been up and down, both in the win/loss column and with their level of play. The Blues ended last week with an undefeated Thursday at the Argyle tournament’s pool play, in which Graham beat Ponder (25-20; 26-24; 25-18), Anna (25-15; 25-17; 25-17) and Little Elm (25-10; 25-22; 25-16) without losing a set. Things began to turn during Saturday’s bracket play in Argyle when the Blues lost at the hands of Kennedale (19-25; 18-25; 25-20; 25-22; 11-15) and Frisco Heritage (23-25; 21-25; 29-27; 25-17; 11-15) before again beating Ponder (15-25; 25-10; 25-19; 25-20) to close out the tournament. Despite losing two on the second day of play at Argyle, head coach Marci Faulk saw the positives in her team’s performance. “It’s a tough tournament and we went 4-2,” she said. “In both our losses we lost the first two sets and fought back to force a fifth game. That showed some mental toughness.” But then the Blues were beat at home by Boyd, and like her coach, team captain Emily Davis is keeping a positive outlook after losing three of their last four. “ it was good for our team,” Davis said. “All good teams need humbling experiences. it showed us that we need to work harder and finish strong.” Davis also echoed her coach when she said the Blues need to improve mentally, citing Boyd’s consistency in contrast to the Blues’ up-and-down level of play. “Playing better teams helps us,” Davis added, “Seeing the team go from great to really low shows that we have to be working even harder. People tell us that we’re good but we have to put in the work. We have to find the positives in losing and come away from that a better team.” The Blues will try to get back on track against Jacksboro Tuesday, Sept. 6 at the Graham High School gym. Games begin at 4:30 p.m. with the varsity team playing last.