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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Emily Hughes sets a pass for the Lady Blues in their match Thursday, July 24. Hughes and her sister, Kathryn Hughes, look to be a pivotal part of the Lady Blues this season. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kaden Atwood defends a serve attempt Thursday, July 24, by Windthorst. Atwood has been a solid defensive presence for the team and made an impact at the service line for the Lady Blues in this matchup.
The Graham Lady Blues volleyball team has been active all summer participating in camp and skills practices and summer leagues. The team completed its final evening of summer league at Legacy High School last week.
The final day of the Windthorst summer league took place Thursday, July 24, where the Lady Blues took on Henrietta, Windthorst and Legacy.
Overall, the Lady Blues swept the night winning all three games, making it their second consecutive sweep of the week and finishing their final week of summer league play with a perfect 6-0 record.
This is something that bolsters confidence in Lady Blues head coach Marci Faulk, as the team transitions to the regular season.
“You hope it’s building confidence,” Faulk said. “I thought our offense looked better last (Thursday) night. We had strong hitters coming on, we had more consistent hitting, we had players switching up and working on offense.”
Faulk also went on to say that over the course of the summer she feels everyone who has participated in offseason work has done well stepping up for their respective roles on the team.
The team had younger players step up and become more adaptable at different positions on the court while also being led by returning seniors.
While overall the night was strong, it was a nice sign for Graham to pick up a win against the team running this summer league, that of course being Windthorst.
Lady Blues hitters Rylee Moore and Tara Dawson got things started with a pair of points to put the team up 2-0.
Windthorst got to within one point until Madison Cauble countered with one of her own to give the team a cushion 4-2.
After Windthorst tied the game 4-4, Kya Cooper had the answer with a pair of kills to once again give the Lady Blues a 6-4 lead.
The team was also effective at the service line with a couple of scoring runs from players like Kaden Atwood and Izzy Alejo being a spark plug for the second straight night.
The Lady Blues wrapped things up with a bow with a series of blocks from Dawson, Cauble, Emily Hughes and a final kill from Dawson again to seal the win.
The Lady Blues beat the Trojanettes by a final score of 31-26.
