Log in

Beach volleyball season wraps

Posted 5/13/21

The 2021 season came to a close in the second round of the state tournament for the high school beach volleyball team, with the Lady Falcons besting Trivium Prep 4-1 on May 3 before falling to …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

Beach volleyball season wraps

Posted

The 2021 season came to a close in the second round of the state tournament for the high school beach volleyball team, with the Lady Falcons besting Trivium Prep 4-1 on May 3 before falling to Chandler Prep on May 5 by a final score of 5-0.

The team finished the regular season the week prior, going 13-0 in division play and 4-0 in section play for second and first place final standings, respectively.

Trivium Prep

Head coach Peter McGloin said the Lady Falcons’ week started off well, besting Trivium Prep in the opening round of the state tournament.

“It could’ve gone either way, though, and we did not play to our best, but we were fortunate to come out on top in this one,” McGloin said of the 4-1 victory. “Some of the earlier season difficulties we had with coming out and playing too safe showed up again, and most of the pairs did not play their best or look like they do in practice, but there was enough resilience and good play to pull off the win.”

McGloin said the Falcon teams were able to serve pretty well throughout and “throw some punches” to make Trivium Prep uncomfortable.

The day started off with the 5’s pairing of Bella Garman and Sophie Wickland losing a close set at 21-19, but then Wickland could not continue in the second set due to an unfortunate ankle injury. At the 4's, Jordan Pace and Emerald Sopeland went down 16-12 to start but, after calling a timeout, McGloin said they came out firing and took control, winning the next two sets at 21-18 and 21-12.

“At the 2’s Brooke Williams and Mia Kohoutek were in control from the start, and won handily 21-12, 21-14,” McGloin continued. “At the 3’s, Meghan Bearer and Ainsley Boersma were in a battle. They pulled off a close 21-19 win in the first set before losing 21-16 in the second, and it came down to a rugged battle in the third, with the Falcons coming up on top, 15-11.”

This put the Falcons out of Trivium Prep’s reach at 3-1 with one match left to play.

“We finished at the 1’s with Grace Abrams and Layne Lease playing together and winning 24-22 and 21-15,” McGloin continued. “I felt they played the most ‘in the moment’ of any of our pairs on this day, and looked like their best selves. They did not get down after mistakes and stayed aggressive and together from the start to get this impressive win.

“This day was Grace’s birthday, and watching her play so hard with her best friend was a lot of fun to watch.”

Chandler Prep

McGloin said that the nerves that showed up in the Lady Falcons’ quarterfinals match against Chandler Prep can be expected on the big stage of playoffs, but the teams that handle the pressure the best will have the best chance to win.

“We were not able to be our best selves in the last match of the season, which ended up being a 5-0 loss,” McGloin said. “This was the first loss at home since the 2017 season, and just the fourth loss for the program in the last five years.”

McGloin said the Falcons did not look like the team he’s seen in training this past season and, while it was a disappointing end to a good season, he gives credit to Chandler Prep for handling the pressure so well.

“We came out strong at the start of the 4’s and 5’s on this day, but the fire was short-lived and we ended up losing the first sets of both of those matches,” McGloin added. “The theme of the day was we struggled to communicate as well as we should, or to play as purposefully as we needed to. We were tentative and did not throw the punches like we needed to against a good team. I strongly feel that we could compete with them and win at any seed, but we did not prove that and instead lost in straight sets with the exception of the 3’s [pairing] of Meghan and Ainsley, who fell by a score of 21-17, 12-21, 7-15. It was not a good day, and a rough way to finish a great season.”

Despite the rough end, McGloin said his team can be proud of leaving their legacy in the program’s history, with a 14-1 record and another section championship this season.

“I want to thank the parents and fans for all their support, and for making Golden Eagle the best home court vibe in the state; the players who worked really hard this season and grew so much and loved each other; and especially my staff, an amazing group that included Kelly Itano, Adrian Chang and Misty McCall, who worked tirelessly since November and cared so much about these kids,” he continued. “We have, hands down, the best staff of any program, and I appreciate how much they do for so little. It is truly a labor of love.

“It is such a joy to come to work when you're surrounded by such amazing people who care so much about kids, and about doing a great job. Despite the tough finish, it was truly a great season, and I hope everyone created many memories from it to last a lifetime.”