The Fountain Hills High School beach volleyball team finished with an 8-6 record after losing in the first round of state playoffs. The Falcons were much younger this season compared to last year, losing nine seniors, and only had three rostered upperclassmen this season. Still, they managed to put up quite the fight.

Junior Mia Kohoutek was the only returning starter from last year’s team that went 14-1. Kohoutek was one of seven athletes to play all 14 matches this season, and of those other six players, two were freshmen, Kitrick Garman and Lucia Kalmbach. Another freshman, Jocelyn Bloedel, played 13 matches.

Garman finished the season 9-5, Kalmbach went 8-6 and Bloedel finished 6-7.

Kohoutek played the top pair in every match with sophomore Sophie Wickland. Kohoutek wasn’t sure who her partner would be at the beginning of the season, but she and Wickland were a great fit, going 11-3 on the season.

“She’s definitely stepped up for sure,” Kohoutek said of Wickland. “Her work ethic’s really good and we’ve worked on a lot of stuff, just trying to tweak little things to make her better. It’s been pretty fun. Seeing her improve is a cool thing, because you know you’re helping her and we’re growing together.”

Kohoutek grew as a leader this season, but she wants to take it a step further. She said she’d like to organize workouts in the offseason, both in the weight room and on the open sand. Kohoutek wants to have a great senior season and hopes her mentality and work ethic will rub off on the younger players.

“Mia took some huge steps this year as a leader,” head coach Peter McGloin said. “She became much more vocal. She’s not the most vocal person naturally, and yet, she really fought to say things in meetings and cheer on her teammates and truly set that example.”

Junior Olivia Sopeland went 2-2, and senior Amaya Evans went 9-5 in her first season playing beach volleyball. Kohoutek and Sopeland will return for their senior seasons, and nine sophomores will return as juniors to bolster the upperclassmen numbers.

“We’ll go from a complete underclassmen program to a team dominated by upperclassmen,” McGloin said. “Hope they realize that and take the next step as leaders.”

Other than Wickland, rising juniors Bella Garman and Sydney Boeshans played all 14 matches, and both went 9-5. Sophomores Elliana Schulze went 6-4 and Emerson Uphoff went 7-1. Savannah Peterson finished 2-2 and fellow sophomore Bree March went 1-2 on the season.

The Falcons had their first junior varsity season last year, and many of the second-year players had JV playing time last season. McGloin was pleased with the depth of his program again this year, and he is looking forward to more advancement next year.

“Our setting was much better this year than last year, we’re happy about that,” McGloin said. “Our fundamental understanding of getting to the net and pulling, like when to block and when to get off the net, that sort of thing, our whole program was understanding that at a higher level.”

Many of the beach volleyball players will do offseason workouts for indoor volleyball this summer or play in a club league. McGloin said it’s a great opportunity for the Falcons to work on conditioning, explosiveness and overall volleyball skills.

Some players do beach tournaments over the summer, but McGloin will start his offseason practice after the indoor season ends in November. He said he will miss the team practices at Golden Eagle Park and wanted to thank their staff, as well as his assistant Kelly Itano.

As many as 16 of the 17 rostered players can return, so the Falcons will have continuity and more experience under their belt heading into next season. JV players this year could be starters next year, and the lineup could look completely different. No matter how it shakes out, McGloin wants all his players excited and ready to work towards another great season next year.