Lady Blues finish non-district on high note with win at Memorial News Staff Fri, 09/27/2024 - 9:10 am
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Lady Blues senior Lillian Noble prepares to serve a ball during Graham’s 3-1 win over Wichita Falls Memorial in the last non-district game of the season Tuesday, Sept. 24. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham seniors Annemarie McHenry (front) and Lillian Noble (back) combine at the net to try to block a ball hit by a Wichita Falls Memorial player Tuesday, Sept. 24 where the Lady Blues won 3-1. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham senior Braylee Mayes sets herself up to dig a ball during the team’s 3-1 win Tuesday, Sept. 24 over Wichita Falls Memorial. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Graham Lady Blues celebrate with each other on the court after a big 3-1 win over Class 5A Wichita Falls Memorial this past Tuesday, Sept. 24. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Sophomore Katie McGehee tosses a ball in the air and reaches up to hit it for a serve during Graham’s 3-1 win over Wichita Falls Memorial this past Tuesday, Sept. 24. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Lady Blues senior Camden Thorne (3) sets a ball for teammate Emi Gordy (6) during Graham’s 3-1 win Tuesday, Sept. 24 over Wichita Falls Memorial. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Bentleigh Martin swings on a ball against a Memorial defender during the JV Lady Blues’ 2-1 win over the Lady Mavericks this past Tuesday, Sept. 24. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Jensen Pettus keeps her eye on the ball as she bumps it to a teammate Tuesday, Sept. 24 during the JV Lady Blues’ win over Memorial. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Libero Camil Alejo serves the ball during Graham JV’s 2-1 win Tuesday, Sept. 24 over Wichita Falls Memorial. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The JV Lady Blues’ Hadleigh Allen sets a ball for one of her teammates during the final set of the team’s 2-1 win Tuesday, Sept. 24 over Wichita Falls Memorial. 
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Lady Blues Emily Hughes (2) and Charlii Haak (11) form a wall at the net to try to block a hit from one of the Wichita Falls Memorial players. The JV Lady Blues won 2-1 Tuesday, Sept. 24.
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TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com
Wichita Falls Memorial High School opened its doors for the first time this August, and along with that came a sparkly, new gymnasium. Fans in the area were expecting a lot of winning out of their volleyball and basketball teams on the new hardwood.
While the Lady Mavericks have done an excellent job so far this season, the Graham Lady Blues traveled to the new school Tuesday, Sept. 24 and left Memorial fans stunned as they came home with a 3-1 win by scores of 29-27, 25-22, 20-25 and 25-11.
Graham (19-9) finished off its non-district schedule with one of the team’s biggest wins of the season, which will hopefully provide momentum heading into district play. It was a battle of a win for the Lady Blues that saw the teams go back and forth all night.
The first set was the most hotly contested set of the night that required extra points to find a winner. Both teams went back and forth until they were tied 22-22 late after a diving save from junior Kaden Atwood led to a kill from senior Emi Gordy.
A few points later, with the score tied 27-27, freshman Kya Cooper set a ball for senior Braylee Mayes, who powered a kill for the 1-point advantage. On Memorial’s next return, the Lady Mavericks got off balance and the ball barely made it over the net where Mayes was waiting to smack it to the back corner for the set clinching point 29-27.
“We stayed consistent (with our passing), and I like that,” head coach Marci Faulk said. “That’s a testament to everyone’s trust in each other’s skill.”
Feeling the juice from the first set, the Lady Blues carried that over into the second where they quickly built a 9-4 lead. Senior Lillian Noble contributed multiple kills along with Mayes, and Gordy and senior Annemarie McHenry each had a kill, as well.
But as volleyball is largely a game of runs, the Lady Mavericks pulled back into it. Once again, the two teams were neck and neck for a majority of the rest of the set and were tied at 21-21 late.
Graham went 4-1 the rest of the set with a kill and a block from Mayes, to go with a few Memorial errors as the Lady Blues took a match advantage 2-0.
Faulk’s team was not only spreading the ball around on offense, but the Lady Blues were having a great deal of success with their blocking at the net. And if a ball didn’t get blocked or it got tipped, the supporting players almost always seemed to be in the right position.
“Blocking does so much more than just block. All the back row sets up according to where the block is at. So if it's set correctly, it puts our back row players in the spot they need to be in where they can take the ball,” Faulk said. “So I thought it was set well, and then Kaden (Atwood) was always off the blocker’s shoulder, taking lots of balls, and they were right to her. And that tells you the (Memorial) hitter’s trying to avoid the block.”
It looked like the Lady Blues were going to cruise to the win in the third set and earn a sweep over the 5A school when they started on an 8-1 run. But Graham allowed Memorial to get back in the game, and from a few errors mixed with the Lady Mavericks’ heightened urgency to win a set, the Lady Blues dropped the third set.
“Before the third set I told (my team) to stay focused and keep fighting,” the Lady Blues head coach said. “I told them (Memorial’s) not going to take it easy on us, and they didn’t.”
What little confidence Memorial may have gained with the third-set comeback was squashed when the Lady Blues came out in the fourth. Graham got up 9-3 after a Noble service ace and later increased that lead to 18-8 after an Atwood ace.
The Lady Blues were unstoppable in the final frame and they put a bow on the win with back-to-back aces from sophomore Katie McGehee to clinch the victory 25-11.
Graham filled the stat books led by Noble with 21 kills and six blocks, and followed by Mayes with 16 kills, 12 digs and five blocks. Atwood had a team-high 25 digs on the defensive end and pitched in four aces while Gordy recorded two kills and five blocks.
Senior Camden Thorne had 20 assists and eight digs, and Cooper ended the game with just one less assist at 19 and had five digs, as well.
Following their district opener Friday, Sept. 27 at Glen Rose, the Lady Blues return home for a match-up at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 against Stephenville.
Subvarsity Results
Graham JV won 2-1 (14-25, 25-23, 25-23)
Graham freshman lost 2-0 (13-25, 15-25)
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