It took a moment to get warmed up, but the Lady Falcons had a stellar week of volleyball, going 2-1 overall.

The Fountain Hills High School girls volleyball team’s first match of the week was on Oct. 15 against American Leadership Academy Gilbert. The Lady Falcons lost the game in three sets, 3-0.

The teams’ second game was the next day, Oct. 16, against Coronado. This time around FHHS volleyball won the match in three sets, 3-0.

The final match of the week was on Saturday, Oct. 18, against Pusch Ridge Christian Academy. The Falcons battled for four sets and came out victorious, 3-1.

This week, the Falcons have two road matches. The team took on Gilbert Christian on Oct. 22 and will blay Coronado tomorrow, Oct. 24, beginning at 6 p.m.

Head coach Tia Kannapel said she was thrilled with the week that the Lady Falcons had but said that it was a sluggish beginning.

“It was unfortunately a slow start for us,” Kannapel explained. “We just weren’t firing on all cylinders in the first game. We do get the amazing opportunity to play ALA Gilbert again, and I think we have a great chance in competing against them. We simply didn’t work as a cohesive unit and it made it hard to side out and score points!”

Things started to flow and come together, both on and off the bench, in the team’s second game against Coronado.

“This was a good moment for us to be able to build back that team unity after some tough games last week,” Kannapel said about winning. “Our varsity captains, Sofie Langer, Gina Woods and Anya Feyrer-Melk, also were the main contributors of some team spirit from the sidelines and it was great to have the loud gym and positive attitudes coming from every player on the team.”

Despite unexpectedly missing some players for the last game of the week, FHHS volleyball was able to pull off a win in Tucson that Kannapel feels is a good representation of the program.

“Even with the missing players, the team remained positive and fought so hard,” Kannapel said. “This was easily one of the best wins we have had in a while. We truly showcased some amazing heart and worked hard in a very tight game.”