The Fountain Hills High School volleyball went 5-2 last week to start the 2022 season. The Falcons beat ALA-Ironwood 3-2 on Tuesday, Aug. 30, and then they went 4-2 in the Longhorn Invitational tournament this past weekend.

The Falcons weren’t as sharp as head coach Olivia Long expected in the season opener at ALA – Ironwood, but she saw immediate improvement in the tournament. The Falcons went 4-0 on the first day and ended up finishing as a top-10 seed in the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 3.

The biggest issue Long noticed was 30 missed serves in five sets versus ALA. Long said that was too many to be efficient, and while she still wants the Falcons to improve their serving, she was happy they had 40 missed serves in 18 sets over the weekend.

“We just collectively look a lot better this year,” Long said. “Our passes our better, our hits are better, everything is just running smoother. The girls communicate more efficiently this year. We have stronger hitters, everyone in their position does a really good job, so we just collectively look better this year.”

Sophomore Jocelyn Bloedel received team MVP honors from 19 other coaches at the tournament, and Long said that fellow sophomore Kitrick Garman and junior Sophie Wickland were also in the running for the award. Long was also impressed with junior libero Sydney Boeshans, who Long said didn’t miss much at all over the weekend.

The Falcons are in high spirits after a good tournament showing, but they will be severely challenged this week. The Falcons have three games in three days. They hosted Gilbert Christian yesterday, Tuesday, Sept. 6, they travel to Payson today, Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m., and they host Valley Christian on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 6 p.m.

“I think that we’re capable,” Long said. “I don’t know if we can get three wins, but I think we can get one or two for sure. I think it's going to be a challenge.”

Long said that the Falcons will watch film this year, something they did not do last year. Long watched Gilbert Christian’s film over the weekend and knows they will be tough, and Payson has nine seniors and finished third in the Longhorn tournament, so they will also be tough competition.

Long believes the Falcons have the skill to beat each team they face this week, but the Falcons need mental toughness as well as physical skill. Luckily, the Falcons will have home court advantage for two of the three games this week.

“Having a crowd there, having everyone cheering for them, it will help them stay mentally tough during the games,” Long said. “I’m hoping Tuesday’s and Thursday’s game, that will be a positive factor for us.”

Long said that she’s noticed more competitiveness in her squad already compared to last year. The Falcons might dip down temporarily, but they are right back in the game fighting for points afterward.

The Falcons did not practice between their tournament and the Gilbert Christian game because of Labor Day weekend. Long said she views games as the best type of practice, and with a focus on film this year, the Falcons will learn from watching themselves and other teams. The Falcons also understand Long’s system better in year two and have taken huge strides already in one year’s time.

“Last year, it was really obvious that it was our building block year, so we stripped it down to fundamentals,” Long said. “Now it’s just fixing the finer details.”

After the Falcons’ three-game stretch this week, they will have two games next week. They travel to Chino Valley on Monday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. for the first conference game of the season, and then the Falcons will host Payson on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m.