The Fountain Hills High School beach volleyball team is ready for the 2019 season to start as the local ladies prepare to defend their title of back to back state championships.

The Lady Falcons’ first match of the season is Thursday, Feb. 21, at home against Arete Prep.

According to head coach Pete McGloin, The switch over from indoor volleyball to beach, radically different games, has been seamless for the Lady Falcons.

“We’ve got a lot of great attitudes and positive energy,” McGloin said. “The players are working hard and I feel like I say this every year but by the second day of practice we were looking at each other like, ‘Man, we are looking pretty good.’”

Now that the beach volleyball program has several seasons under its belt, McGloin has found that his team comes more prepared at the start of the season.

“All of the girls, except the freshmen, are experienced players that have been on the team before,” McGloin said. “So I feel like we are starting at a higher level than we have [in the past]. It is nice that we already look like beach volleyball players.”

Currently practices are dedicated to figuring out the best pairing for each player and then what seed that pair will take.

“We have been playing people with lots different partners,” McGloin said. “[We’re] trying to see who relates well to each other, whose skills and personalities will be compatible. We have so many great players, too, that we don’t have a clear cut ‘ones’ team yet. We’ve got quite a few girls competing for those top spots.”

Like many of the other Fountain Hills sports, beach volleyball is also in a new region this season, which means new schools fresh schools to play against.

“This year we are going to compete against some schools that are four times our size,” McGloin said. “I am really looking forward to it all.”