The 2020 Lady Blues volleyball season has been one of uncertainty. Matches have been canceled on short notice. COVID-19 has caused sudden roster changes during the season. The outcome for the Lady Blues has remained the same. With their 3-0 win in Mineral Wells Tuesday night, the Lady Blues are district 5-4A champions. The fifth consecutive championship for the team.
Graham Junior High School took first place in both the boys and girls District 5-4A cross country meet at Kirby Middle School in Wichita Falls Oct. 17. The win is the school’s 10th championship in 12 season as a program.
The Graham Steers were looking forward to this district matchup. After losing to Iowa Park last year in the way they did, Oct. 16 was circled on the calendar the day the schedule was released. It could be argued that the Steers’ 45-21 win over the Hawks in Iowa Park Friday was a year in the making. It might have looked that way from the start.
Starting from the opening kickoff, the Steers seized control of the game and never looked back. Three touchdown passes from Hunter Lanham set the tone in the dominating win.
Five set matches are slowly becoming the norm for the Lady Blues. In 23 matches, five have been played to five sets. The fifth, Friday’s win over Iowa Park by scores of 23-25, 25-9, 25-14, 23-25, 19-11, improved the team to 5-0 in five-set matches.
The Lady Blues entered Friday’s five-set marathon with playoff and district championship implications on the line. A win would clinch the playoffs and place the team one win away from clinching the district championship.
The Lady Blues district match could have been considered a “trap game” for Graham. They were coming off of a big win at home against Wylie and homecoming weekend that saw outside hitter Ashton Reese awarded the crown. Those worries were quickly dashed with a 3-0 win over the short-handed Burkburnett Lady Bulldogs Tuesday at Burkburnett. Graham defeated the Lady Bulldogs 25-20, 25-9, 25-14.
Nothing has been normal for the Graham Steers this season. The Steers have faced cancellations with short notice, games scheduled with short notice and after Friday’s 63-7 Homecoming win over Bridgeport, they’ve faced a game without their head coach, Kenny Davidson.
In a season of last-minute adjustments, the Steers made an adjustment with Defensive Coordinator Clay McChristian taking head coaching duties for the game.
The Lady Blues’ busy schedule was made slightly easier Thursday night. With the cancellation of Friday’s road game at Burkburnett, the Lady Blues no longer had to worry about taking on 5A No. 20 Wylie the next morning following a road game and the morning after homecoming. The Lady Blues defeated the visiting Bulldogs 23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-25, 15-9.
Lady Blues coach Marci Faulk and Bulldogs coach Shay Cox are no strangers as the two teams at one time played in the same district.
The Lady Blues seniors celebrated in a big way Tuesday night by defeating the Mineral Wells Lady Rams in straight sets for a 25-11, 25-12, 25-16 win. With the win, the Lady Blues remain undefeated in district.
Mineral Wells visited Graham after joining the district this year as a result of the UIL’s biennial redistricting. Despite keeping it close early in two of three games, the Lady Rams could not keep up in the middle portions and allowed the Lady Blues to go on unsurmountable runs.
The Lady Blues did not play their best match of the season, but they did enough. They defeated the Vernon Lady Lions on the road 3-0 to continue their unbeaten streak in district play.
The struggles did not start until nearly the end of the match’s opening game. The Lady Blues jumped ahead early with a 4-1 lead. It was the aggressive play from the Lady Blues that gave them a lead, but that same play allowed the hosts to remain close.
The Graham Steers return to action Friday after an unscheduled week off. The Steers will host the Bridgeport Bulls in this year’s homecoming game. The game is also the start of the district schedule for the Steers.
The Steers host the Bulls after having games canceled two weeks in a row. Hirschi was originally scheduled for Sept. 25 and was replaced by Everman after Hirschi canceled earlier in the week. Last week was originally scheduled for Midland Greenwood and was replaced by Wichita Falls High School, who canceled with less than 36 hours before kickoff.
