Mayes, Monsey selected as Athletes of the Week

Last week’s edition of The Leader’s Athletes of the Week featured a pair of seniors who play leading roles on their respective teams. This week, a couple of juniors received the honor for their recent performances.

Braylee Mayes from the Lady Blues volleyball team and Rylan Monsey from the Steers football team were selected as Athletes of the Week for their performances from Thursday, Aug. 30 through Wednesday, Sept. 6.

Braylee Mayes, middle blocker, volleyball

Mayes stands out for the Lady Blues as one of their most versatile players and has shown that on the court time and again this season. She has fulfilled a variety of roles and consistently leads the team on offense, in particular.

The junior has begun her third season on the varsity squad and has helped lead the team to a 14-10 record so far on the year. In the past week, Mayes performed at a high level despite the Lady Blues taking two losses against Springtown and Clyde.

In the two matches, one of which went five sets while the other went four, Mayes led the team with 35 kills, was second on the team with 16 digs and tied for the team lead with six blocks.

Most impressive, though, was her ability to score when her team needed it most. Oftentimes, Mayes’s kills put an end to opposing runs and provided a spark for Graham when times got tough. She excelled at rallying her teammates with both her words and her actions on and off the court.

“She's one of our vocal leaders," head coach Marci Faulk said. “...She's got a very good way to talk to her teammates; they respect her and they trust her…And then her skills, you got skills and the leadership. She’s easy, it’s just easy with her.”

Rylan Monsey, running back, football

Through two games this season, Monsey has already picked up where he left off last fall. The second-year varsity running back led the team in rushing yards in the 2022 season with 1,265 yards for an average of 126.5 yards per game. He also finished second on the team among non-quarterback position players with 11 touchdowns.

So far Monsey has returned to a feverish pace with 214 yards rushing through the first two games and has tied for the team lead among all players with four touchdowns scored.

While the Steers threw the ball around a lot in their season-opening win against Bowie, this past week they ran the ball a bit more. Monsey was the go-to back for Graham’s offense and racked up 94 yards rushing on 14 carries with a long of 42 yards. He scored one touchdown in the game and also returned a kickoff for 17 yards.

Monsey is the go-to running back and despite being smaller in size, has shown an elite ability to make things happen with the ball in his hands. He’s done it for Graham his whole career thus far and showed it again during the Steers’ matchup with Springtown, a team they hadn’t beaten in five years.

“(Monsey) is a great back and had a big game Friday night,” running backs coach Jim Walton said. “He has great vision and made several outstanding runs including a nice touchdown. He also is a very tough runner and picked up a lot of tough yards between the tackles.”