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Sophomores stepping up for beach volleyball

Posted 3/8/22

Sophomores on the Fountain Hills High School beach volleyball team are stepping up and contributing to the success of the team. Half of the Falcon starters are sophomores, and the roster was adjusted …

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Sophomores stepping up for beach volleyball

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Sophomores on the Fountain Hills High School beach volleyball team are stepping up and contributing to the success of the team. Half of the Falcon starters are sophomores, and the roster was adjusted last week to have a sophomore in each of the five pairs.

Perhaps no one has taken a bigger step than sophomore Sophie Wickland, who went from the middle of the JV pack last year to the top line this year. Wickland and her partner, junior Mia Kohoutek, are 3-1 so far, and the Falcons as a team are 2-2.

Wickland joined the beach team late last year after an indoor club season. She played JV line two until an injury allowed her to move up to varsity line five for a playoff match. Wickland sprained her ankle in that match and had to forfeit, so her first varsity win came in this season’s opener against Flagstaff.

“I was really nervous going into it, because it was a big jump,” Wickland said. “I knew I could handle it; I pep talked myself before it, and getting the win gave me the reassurance I can be at the one’s as a sophomore.”

Ask any volleyball player or coach, and they will tell you that it is as much a mental game as a physical one. That goes double for beach volleyball, because there are only two players per side and it's more of a workout, according to Wickland.

Wickland has strategies to calm herself down, and her partner is there to help, too.

“We help each other by coming in each point and cheering each other on,” Wickland said. “We keep the talk positive, and instead of saying ‘I,’ we say ‘we.’ Coach Pete helps us, too. He cheers us on a lot, and he never gets mad at us when we make mistakes. He’s very supportive.”

Wickland and Kohoutek, like the rest of the Falcons, had two practices to play together as a pair before their first match. The players all had to adjust to their partners, but the Falcons spent many practices together as a team before then. The Falcons support each other even when they aren’t playing together.

The Falcons went 1-1 last week, losing 4-1 to Gilbert Christian on the road on Monday, Feb. 28, and beating Rancho Solano Prep 5-0 at home on Wednesday, March 2. Gilbert Christian had a senior player in each pair, and only two underclassmen starters total, but four of the five Falcon pairs took them to a third set tiebreaker.

Wickland and Kohoutek lost 12-21, 21-15, 15-7 to Gilbert Christian, and senior Amaya Evans and sophomore Sydney Boeshans lost 21-17, 21-9 at the two pair. Sophomore Bella Garman and freshman Kitrick Garman lost 21-18, 13-21, 18-16 in the three pair, and the freshmen pair of Jocelyn Bloedel and Lucia Kalmbach lost 23-21, 19-21, 17-15 in the five line. Sophomores Emerson Uphoff and Elliana Schulze won the four pair 19-21, 21-17, 15-11.

The Falcons’ first practice in six days came the day after Gilbert Christian, and that’s when the four and five pairs were changed. Bloedel moved up to the four pair, and Uphoff moved down to five.

The Falcons’ sweeping victory over Rancho Solano Prep last Wednesday showed that the Falcons’ sophomore class might be one of the better sophomore classes around. The Mustangs also have five sophomores on their varsity roster, but it was hardly a close competition.

The new pairs dominated. At five, Uphoff and Kalmbach won 21-0, 21-8, and Bloedel and Schulze won 21-5, 21-5 at four. The Garman sisters’ won 21-6, 21-11 at three, and Evans and Boeshans won 19-21, 21-6, 15-12 at two, and Wickland and Kohoutek won 21-13, 21-14.

Wickland was new to beach last year and quickly fell in love with the outdoor sport. She has been preparing for this season for a while, but some specific things about beach take some getting used too. The Falcons constantly dive to try and keep the play alive, whether indoor or outdoor, but sand isn’t as soft as it first appears.

“You’d think it’d be better, but sometimes the sand gets right where you feel like your diving on cement,” Wickland said. “It’s better than court burn, but you still get sand burn.”

Before taking next week off for spring break, the Falcons host Payson at Golden Eagle Park today, Wednesday, March 9, at 4 p.m. The Falcons had a week between matches, which head coach Peter McGloin was happy to work with.

“We had three games in a row, and only one practice day,” McGloin said. “I’ve got a long laundry list of stuff that we’ll be working on for our next game. Just really happy to put some practices together and focus on each individual pair and work on their spacing and communication.”