The Fountain Hills High School volleyball team had plenty of ups and downs this season, but the team was far and beyond better than a year ago. Much of the credit goes to the players who put in work each day, but head coach Olivia Long also made strides in her second season as a coach.

The Falcons finished No. 16 in the state and had an improved record from last year, going from 11-19 to 22-15. The Falcons did better later in the season, and they won six of their 12 tournament games in their third and final tournament.

“When we went to the one tournament and went really far in it, I feel like that’s when I felt, ‘oh we’re really improved this year,’” sophomore Jocelyn Bloedel said. “But then there were also points where we didn’t win a single game in a tournament.”

The Falcons watched film of themselves and their competitors at the beginning of the season, but that did not continue throughout the year. Long was looking for her own way to get through to her team, so the 23-year-old started picking the brains of other coaches at the high school in the middle of the season.

“I’m relatively new to coaching so anytime I can talk with other coaches, I’ll take it,” Long said. “I feel like cultivating a culture on the team, and that doesn’t happen randomly, and it doesn’t happen without work. It’s one of those things that takes time and experience.”

Fortunately for Long, she has dealt with little change to her roster in the last two seasons. The Falcons lost two seniors last year, and they’ll lose two again after this offseason. Olivia Sopeland was an effective middle hitter, and LJ Holland was a threat as an outside hitter, but the Falcons will keep most of their talent for next year.

Long has had a core group of girls the last two seasons, and she’ll have five seniors with two years of varsity experience next year. Among that group are the two junior captains, outside hitter Sophie Wickland and setter Bella Garman.

Wickland and Garman both earned all-region honorable mentions as sophomores, and they each repeated honorable mentions this season. Middle hitter Jocelyn Bloedel also earned that same honor this season.

The other rising seniors include middle Jeneya Boone, libero Sydney Boeshans and back row defender Elliana Schulze. Boeshans played the most out of the three, but each made an impact on the court this season.

There were two other sophomore starters this year, setter Kitrick Garman and outside hitter Zoe Kohoutek. Kitrick played some as a freshman but was a much more important part of the team this year, starting every game and playing nearly every point with her sister. Kohoutek transferred to Fountain Hills over the summer and was a solid addition for the second half of the season.

The Falcons were tested at every point this season, and they started strong. The Falcons’ first home win of the season came against Payson, and the Falcons were 8-4 after that thrilling five-set victory.

The Falcons lost their next match 3-1 at Camp Verde, and they struggled for a while. They went 2-3 in the Epic Tourney Invitational the following weekend, and they had two 3-0 losses to Scottsdale Christian Academy and Northwest Christian the week after the tournament.

Both Christian schools were ranked higher than Fountain Hills, so the Falcons were hoping for bounce-back wins against No. 41 Bourgade Catholic and No. 29 Chino Valley. The Falcons beat both region opponents, but losing a set to Bourgade Catholic served as a wake-up call to the players.

“I felt like almost every single game was a tiebreaker scenario,” Bella Garman said. “We never had a game where we were way ahead the entire time all three sets.”

The Falcons went 6-2 in their last tournament and then won their next two matches. They then had to play Scottsdale Christian and Northwest Christian again, and they put up more of a fight in the second go. The Falcons lost each match, but they won two sets against Scottsdale Christian and one set against Northwest Christian.

The Falcons fell in their playoff play-in game at home to No. 17 Parker. Bloedel and Garman described a snowball effect of one bad play feeding into another, resulting in the Broncos comeback victory in five sets. The Falcons are trying to keep their heads up and eyes focused on the future, because they have club and beach volleyball seasons happening next.

The Falcons earned twice as many wins in one year and improved their end-of-season rankings from No. 26 to No. 16. Both the players and Long are excited to see how much more they can improve this offseason.

“I think if we see the same growth that we saw this past year in the coming year, we’ll be in a really good position,” Long said. “We have a great foundation. We have a lot of skill out there, and now it’s going to be refining the skill, working on our hustle and our discipline.”