Despite 2020 being an unusual season, the Lady Falcons have not missed a step when it comes to getting back into volleyball mode.

The Fountain Hills High School volleyball team’s first game of the season was on Sept. 22, away, against Bourgade Catholic. Fountain Hills won the match in three sets.

The second game of the week for the Falcons was also their first home game. FHHS hosted Payson on Sept. 25, which the local ladies also won in three sets; 25-22, 25-17 and 25-16.

This week the Lady Falcons have another two games on their docket. The first match was Tuesday, Sept. 29, against second-ranked Valley Christian.

The final game this week is on Friday, Oct. 2, away at Valley Christian. The match starts at 6 p.m.

Head coach Pete McGloin is always happy with a win but, as a coach, he said he is more invested in how his team gets that win. That being the case, McGloin said he was not too jazzed about the team’s first win of the season.

“We won, the results were fine, the score was good, but the process wasn’t good at all,” McGloin said. “We just didn’t play the game the way we wanted to. We set our goals before the game and we weren’t able to meet them, in terms of focus and effort-type stuff. We just left a lot of room to grow.”

That’s not to say there weren’t any strong performances from the Falcons in their first game.

“A player who stood out and got Player of the Game was Mia Kohoutek,” McGloin said. “She’s our new sophomore setter and her serving was incredible. She did a lot for us in that game. She had seven aces, 15 points off serves, three kills and eleven assists.”

Still, McGloin was looking forward to getting back to practice to fine-tune the Lady Falcons’ process.

“Knowing that we could play so much better, the team recognized that at practice the next day and they really worked hard,” McGloin said. “We had two great practices in a row where we kind of broke everything back down to what playing hard and what playing with intensity looks like.”

After those practices, McGloin felt good going into Friday’s game against Payson. Unfortunately, there was one extra hiccup to worry about. The 6 p.m. game was delayed nearly two hours because of an accident on the road into town.

“It’s hard to maintain that intensity, but it’s a lot better than being on a bus for four hours like Payson was,” McGloin said. “The game was wonderful, as far as the team really coming together is concerned. All the things missing from Tuesday’s game, like intensity and energy levels both on the court and bench, were there. It was like night and day.”

McGloin had positives to share about every player that game, but there was one in particular who stood out.

“The player named Player of the Game for the Payson match was Megan Bearer,” McGloin said. “It was kind of her breakout game. She really figured out how to be aggressive and play so fast in the second and third set. She led the team in kills with eight.”

Always the perfectionist, McGloin said he is still focused on getting better but he is happy with what his team has accomplished in a limited time on the court.

“We still have a ton of room for growth,” McGloin said. “But the progress after just eight days of practice and to win a huge game against Payson felt like Falcon Volleyball.”