Lady Blues pick up win against Bowie

The Lady Blues continued riding high this week, picking up a victory over the Bowie Lady Rabbits in four sets. 

This is their second consecutive victory after defeating the Iowa Park Lady Hawks. 

The match took place Tuesday, Sept. 9, after the junior varsity team was also able to secure a victory. 

Lady Blues head coach Marci Faulk also said the team should be grateful to both the freshmen and junior varsity teams for their continued support during the team’s matches.

Both teams largely made up the crowd for Graham and continued to make noise throughout the contest, cheering the Lady Blues on and being a consistent energy boost. 

“I told them they really needed to thank the JV and freshmen,” Faulk said. “I think we fed off their energy when they started cheering. I love that they stay and stick around and support and get into it like that.” 

Set one was a bit of a tougher affair for the Lady Blues as they started the match trailing 1-0 after a 25-21 set loss. 
There were bright spots for the team to build off of though, especially with the fact that the team fought hard even in their lost set. 

Tara Dawson picked up a tip on the right side of the net to pull the team within one 3-2. 

There were also a pair of nice blocks in the set, Emily Hughes and Madison Cauble teamed up for one along with Kya Cooper and Rylee Moore teaming up later in the set. 

Katy McGehee also picked up a variety of points and Kaden Atwood had a nice dig. The team even led at points in the set but ultimately couldn’t hang on. 

Set two was where the team refocused their energy and got on the board with a set win. The team started up 2-0 after another Hughes and Cauble team-up for a block and later Moore followed things up with a kill to make it 7-5.
 
Dawson had a highlight play with a dig which led to effective passing for the Lady Blues and a return that resulted in a point for Graham. 

The team found themselves trailing in the middle portions of the set though. However, after trailing 21-17, Cooper and Moore teamed up for a block and Moore picked up a point faking out the defense on a tipped ball to pull the team within one point 21-20. 

The team went on to fight the lead away from the Lady Rabbits and win the set 25-23 in a close bout. 

Set three was one of the team’s most impressive. The team jumped out to a big opening lead 20-10 but Bowie fought back and made it 23-17. 

However, the team slammed the door on any hopes of a comeback by winning the set 25-19 and now Graham was one set away from a victory.

One of the highlight plays of that set being a kill from Bentleigh Martin which got a loud pop from the sideline and supporting fans. 

Set four was a complete effort that saw the team pull out the victory. 

Cauble started things with a kill to tie the game 2-2 and a few possessions later she cleared a ball to maintain a lead for Graham 4-3.

Hughes and Dawson padded that lead with a block to make it 5-3. Dawson once again made her presence felt with a tipped ball on the left side of the net to make it 10-5 Graham. 

Dawson then laid out for a dig after Bowie fought back to take the lead 12-11 which passed high over the net into the Lady Rabbits defensive zone and wasn’t returned to tie the game at 12 all. 

McGehee took control at the service line with an ace and multiple points after this to make it 17-14. 

Hadleigh Allen picked up an ace later in the set to make it 22-19 and Rylee Moore ended things with a kill and a tipped ball over the defense to pull out the win. 

After playing Legacy High Friday, Sept. 12, the Lady Blues pick things up again at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16 on the road against Abilene Christian.