A look back at 2021 Lady Blues volleyball

With the end of school and the sports year, The Graham Leader takes a look back and ahead for Graham Lady Blues Volleyball team. In this edition of The Graham Leader, we look back at the 2021 season.

The 2021 Lady Blues season was a year of change. Only seniors Rachel Grimsley and Emma Parker remained from the 2020 team that made a run to the regional tournament. With a mostly new roster of players, both seniors and Lady Blues coach Marci Faulk were looking forward to a return to “normalcy” after the 2020 schedule was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Early season tournaments play an important role in team building.

“This year they will be important,” Faulk said. “Normally we’ll go shopping together to get ready for the school year and play some games. I told the coaches we needed to do something different. These girls are still getting to know each other. So I think we’ll try to do an escape room and some other things this year. Each girl has a role on this team and that’s something they need to figure out. There’s just a lot of things that aren’t there yet and we’ll get there.”

Going into the season, Grimsley added that confidence would play a big factor in the success of the team.

“There’s some increased stress with the younger girls, but I just want to help these girls on their varsity journey. We have a lot of girls who just need help in getting their confidence and getting their nerves out.” Grimsley said. “I learned a lot from last year’s team about helping out younger kids and helping to support them. It’s been great because the girls have been just so ready to learn everything. They’re just taking in everything they get every single day. So much improvement has been going on so it’s so fun. (The tournaments) are extremely important. I mean, the time we get on and off the court matters so much. You make relationships with people that are four years younger than you. You get to learn what their life has been like and what they’re thinking. You get to impart some wisdom. You make some really good bonds with each other. You get to learn communication styles and how you need to interact with each other and the most effective way to talk to each other on the court."

For the full story, see the Wednesday, June 1 edition of The Graham Leader.