The Fountain Hills High School beach volleyball squad beat Payson 5-0 last Wednesday, March 9. This is Payson’s inaugural beach volleyball season, and the Falcons now own their first program win over their big rival.

The Falcons are about a third of the way through their rebuilding season, and they feel good about where they are and how they’re progressing. The Falcons had a week to practice, and most pairs beat Payson easily. Out of 10 sets, the Longhorns only scored 15 points four times.

Junior Mia Kohoutek and sophomore Sophie Wickland won 21-9, 21-6 in the top line. Senior Amaya Evans and sophomore Sydney Boeshans won 25-23, 21-17 in the two pair, and sophomore Bella Garman and freshman Kitrick Garman won 21-8, 21-19 in the three pair. Freshman Jocelyn Bloedel and sophomore Elliana Schulze won 21-7, 21-14 at four, and freshman Lucia Kalmbach and sophomore Emerson Uphoff won 21-15, 21-10 at five.

Evans and Boeshans had the closest match, but they pulled out an overtime win and held off Payson from forcing a tiebreaker set. Evans is new to the sport and transferred to Fountain Hills before her senior year, and it’s only due to a chance encounter that she plays beach for the Falcons.

“I never played beach up until a couple of months ago,” Evans said. “I actually just randomly came on a stroll at this park, and I ran into [coach] Pete.”

Evans met head coach Peter McGloin at Golden Eagle Park, where the Falcons play their home games. McGloin encouraged Evans to join the club RPM sand last fall, and Evans said she was intimidated because most of her teammates and opponents already had D1 scholarship offers. Evans has experience playing tough competition, but she also enjoys the fun atmosphere of high school beach volleyball.

“Once we started here, I immediately was learning every day,” senior Amaya Evans said. “I still am learning every day. I learn so much every practice, every single match, and its super fun to watch myself improve.”

Evans was welcomed to the team, and her partner, Boeshans, says they clicked near instantly. Evans plays closer to the net in the blocker position, and Boeshans plays back as the defender. Boeshans is the Falcons’ libero for indoor volleyball, and several of her defensive skills carry over nicely to beach.

“You’re the one receiving everything, and you have to dig stuff and it’s definitely helpful for beach because beach is all about picking up spots and picking up different kinds of shots,” Boeshans said. “I think it’s very helpful, being a libero in indoor and coming out here, because beach is basically a defensive game, and being able to read the attacker is a very helpful skill to have in beach and in indoor.”

Evans said that she gives Boeshans a sign whether she’s going to block the line or block the seam, and then Boeshans’ job is to cover the unblocked area. Boeshans puts herself in position to keep the play alive by watching the arms of her opponents.

“You can normally see where they’re going to go, they normally show it,” Boeshans said. “Except against Mia [Kohoutek], she doesn’t really show it at all. She’s fantastic.”

Evans said reading the opponents is a skill, not luck. The pair is 4-1 on the season, and the team is 3-2 entering spring break.

The Falcons’ match at Seton Catholic has been changed from Friday, March 25, to Thursday, March 31, so the Falcons only have two matches the week they come back. They will host Sequoia Pathway on Monday, March 21, at 4 p.m., and they’ll host North Pointe Prep on Wednesday, March 23, at 4 p.m.

The Falcons have nine games left over the next four weeks, but they were able to learn how to adjust to a busy schedule when they played four games in five days at the beginning of the season.

“I think just focusing on what’s next,” Evans said of her mindset. “Live in the moment, play that game, know that you have one day to practice, you got practice and then you got to refocus for the next game. I mean, it is hard having a lot of games in a row, but it’s very doable and manageable. It’s fun traveling with the team, it’s fun coming here with the team, so it’s a lot of fun, it’s not stress or pressure.”