Sports

It was a big night for the Lady Blues varsity volleyball team as they took on the Jim Ned Lady Indians in their home opener. 

Unfortunately for Graham, the team dropped the match in three hard fought sets. 

This was a point that head coach Marci Faulk took away as a positive after the game. 

“I thought we fought hard,” Faulk said. “I don’t feel like we ever gave up on balls and things like that. I thought they stayed in a lot of scramble plays that would have been easy to quit on but they didn't. I can appreciate the effort.”

It was a big weekend for the Lady Blues varsity volleyball team in Llano. 

The team participated in their first tournament of the regular season and ultimately came out with championship gold. 

Ultimately, the team came out of the tournament undefeated. They won all seven of their matches including the championship. This undoubtedly is a statement performance early in the season as the team has high expectations. 

It was a full day for the Lady Blues volleyball teams as they held their home opening games at Graham High School. 

Unfortunately for the junior varsity team, they could not pick up the win against the Jim Ned Lady Indians. 

Despite the loss, coach Courtney Wright saw encouraging signs from the team in this matchup. 

“Our passing was day and night,” Wright said in comparison to the team's season opening loss against Burkburnett. “I don’t ever want to lose, but that game could have gone either way.” 

Graham High School has been back in session for a week and a half now and with that is the full time return of athletics. 

This week, the Graham Leader is recognizing Jot Thorne of the Steers and Katy McGehee of the Lady Blues as this week's athletes of the week. 

Katy McGehee, Lady Blues Volleyball

It’s been an all around solid start for the Lady Blues varsity volleyball team this season. The team has kicked off with an 8-1 record with a bevy of strong performances. 

One of the beauties of sports is one can experience the highs of victory and the lows of defeat. 

Graham felt both ends of the spectrum this week beating Bridgeport in dominant fashion but losing to Brock on a day that just wasn't theirs.

Graham took on Bridgeport's varsity team Thursday, Aug. 14, and finished the day with a final team score of 17-2 in a victory.

On the doubles side of things, the Steers got things started on the right track with the team of Brooklyn Tarsoaga and Keigan Garland picking up a dominant 8-1 win.

After months of anticipation, the Graham Steers varsity football team got its first taste of on the field action against an opponent in their Grandview scrimmage. 

This scrimmage took place on the road at Kangaroos stadium Friday, Aug. 15, as an annual last leg step of training camp before regular season games. 

The Newcastle Ladycats had a strong start to the season this week picking up an opening day win and showing out in the Marlboro Man Memorial Tournament.

The team kicked off their regular season Tuesday, Aug. 12, against Quanah and Archer City and beat both.

They followed this by traveling to Benjamin for the tournament this past weekend which took place Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 14-16.

The varsity team played its first set of games Aug. 15 and one all three matches against Wichita Christian, Knox City and Merkel.

The school year is officially back at Graham High School. The first day of scheduled classes kicked off this week and for the athletic and UIL programs, they celebrated the start of the new year with their annual booster bash event. 

This event took place Monday, Aug. 11, run as always by the Graham Athletic Booster Club. Club president ZT Burkett said he was pleased with the overall turnout of the event. 

After starting the season strong at 3-1, the Graham’s varsity tennis teams found their record back at the .500 mark after falling to Azle. Despite the loss, the teams from Graham didn’t go down without a fight. 

Graham teams battled all day Monday, Aug. 11, but were narrowly defeated 11-8 on the day. 

Head coach Matt Birdwell said he was proud of the team's efforts, but they have to improve at closing out competitions, especially when having the advantage. 

The fall school year has officially kicked off for the teams throughout the state which means the return of the Athlete of the Week series recognizing local students. 

The Graham Leader is recognizing Kaden Atwood of the Lady Blues and Tyler Bryan of the Steers as this week's Athletes of the Week. 

Kaden Atwood, Lady Blues volleyball

Coming into this season, the Lady Blues have a solid mix of veteran leadership alongside some young faces looking to make an impact, with Atwood serving as the former.