Head coach Peter McGloin said before last week that the Falcons could be a really dangerous team entering playoffs if they won their last four games. The Fountain Hills high school beach volleyball team finished the regular season with four 5-0 victories, and they moved up high enough to host the first round of postseason competition.

The No. 8 Falcons (10-3) hosted No. 9 Mesquite (8-3) after press time on Monday, April 17. If the Falcons advanced, they’ll play the winner of No. 16 Eastmark and No. 1 Salpointe Catholic today, Wednesday, April 19. The higher seed hosts the first two rounds, and the semi-finals begin next Monday, April 24, at Casteel High School.

Last week’s gauntlet started with a road trip to Buckeye on Monday, April 10. The Falcons didn’t lose a single set to No. 30 Odyssey Institute, and the athletes said they played in 98-degree heat without any shade.

The Falcons’ toughest test of the week was at Saguaro (7-3). Fountain Hills won 5-0 and went 3-0 in tiebreaker sets. The Falcons and Sabercats traded rankings, with Fountain Hills moving up from No. 12 to No. 8, and Saguaro falling from No. 8 to No. 12.

Juniors Bella Garman and Sydney Boeshans won 21-18, 18-21, 15-13 in the top pair, and sophomores Jocelyn Bloedel and Kit Garman won 21-17, 12-21, 15-7 in the second pair. Junior Sophie Wickland and sophomore Lucia Kalmbach won 28-26, 15-21, 15-6 at three.

Kalmbach and Wickland lost their first two matches together to top-ranked Northwest Christian and Arcadia, but they finished the season 4-0 together. They said they’ve found their groove as the regular season ended, and they were able to beat Saguaro mentally in the tiebreaker set.

“I feel like the Northwest and Arcadia games got us fired up and we were like ‘okay, we’re not going to lose any more.’ We want to win,” Wickland said.

“Yesterday’s game at Saguaro, we were like ‘we’re not losing,’” Kalmbach added. “There’s no other option, really.”

Junior Elle Schulze and senior Liv Sopeland beat Saguaro’s fourth pair 23-21, 21-18, and juniors Bree March and Savannah Peterson won 21-6, 21-11. The Falcons used the same 10 players in 12 of their 13 games, and all 10 starters have at least nine wins on the season.

The Falcons wrapped up their regular season with a doubleheader against No. 23 Payson (6-9). The Falcons played well across the board and showed positive signs at the end of the season.

The Falcons won all 10 matches with the Longhorns in two sets, and McGloin said Kalmbach and Wickland made a really good team look bad. He said one of their opponents, junior Lizzy White, is Payson’s best indoor volleyball player, and the Falcons’ No. 3 pair still won 21-8, 21-2 in the first match, and 21-6, 21-15 in the rematch.

“We’re really peaking at the right time,” McGloin said. “We’re really showing some tremendous growth here by the end of the season and we’re stringing it together through multiple experiences.”

Boeshans and Bella won 21-10, 21-16 and 21-10, 21-19, and Bloedel and Kit won 21-11, 21-9 and 21-6, 21-15 in the two pair. Schulze and Sopeland beat Payson 21-9, 21-17 and 21-12, 21-14, and March and Peterson held down the fifth pair with 21-14, 21-17 and 21-16, 21-10 victories.

“The will to win is so much stronger,” McGloin said. “That refusal to lose at times and even when we’re not bringing our best stuff, we’re just still battling it and coming out on top. Just really happy with where we’re at right now. Feels like night and day from the beginning of the season.”

The girls played four games in three days and celebrated senior night after one JV and two varsity matches with Payson. The team spent a day off going to support the Falcons baseball team against Northwest Christian last Thursday, April 13, and they got right back on the sand to practice the next day.

McGloin said he was happy with his players’ self-care over their three-day stretch and practice afterward. The Falcons were well rested and focused, and he hopes to carry that intensity through the playoffs.

With the four wins last week, Bella Garman moved to fifth all-time in career wins for Fountain Hills with 29. At least three other Falcons have 20 or more career wins, and they feel like they toughened up last week and will be ready for anybody in the state tournament.

“We’ve got the team. We’ve got the talent,” McGloin said. “They can beat anybody. Will we have to be a little more aggressive in certain games? Yeah. We might have to push the boundaries a little bit more and be okay with a few more mistakes, but I fully believe we can beat anybody.”