The Falcon beach volleyball team kept its undefeated record going strong last week, besting Horizon Honors and AZ College Prep by final scores of 4-1. This moves the team to a 7-0 record on the season with section matches set to begin next week.

Freedom play continues today, April 14, with an away match against Sequoia Pathway. The final freedom match of the season is scheduled for this Friday, April 16, with an away match against Gilbert Christian. Both of those matches are set to begin at 4 p.m.

Section play kicks off Monday, April 19, with a 4 p.m. away match against North Pointe Prep.

Horizon Honors

The Falcons began the week with a 4-1 victory against Horizon Honors but, according to head coach Peter McGloin, it took a minute to get the wheels rolling.

“We started off the week against Horizon Honors not quite looking like our best selves, but ended up being a solid win,” McGloin said. “We split the first round of 4’s and 5’s, with the 4’s losing but the 5’s pair of freshmen Bella Garman and Elliana Schulze pulling out a nice win, 21-16, 21-6, to keep us even at 1-1.”

The Falcons continued that momentum, with the 2’s pairing of Meghan Bearer and Ainsley Boersma and the 3’s pairing of Jordan Pace and Emerald Sopeland winning in straight sets. Jelina Lynch and Mia Kohoutek finished the day, dominating their opponents by a final score of 21-9, 21-3.

“The only issue in this match was that we didn’t always push ourselves to play the way that we need to in order to be successful in the playoffs, and we need to fight for better resilience,” McGloin said. “But then, the team took a big step forward toward those goals in the next game against AZ College Prep.

AZ College Prep

McGloin said that while the 4-1 final score was the same as the previous match, the process to get there was much better, with pairs mostly playing more in the moment and making “spectacular plays that we get to see in practice all the time.”

McGloin said Bella Garman and Layne Lease played tremendously at the 5’s, winning 21-11, 21-12. Jordan Pace and Emerald Sopeland had a strong showing at 4’s, winning 21-9, 16-21, 15-11. In the 2’s spot, Brooke Williams and Mia Kohoutek dominated with a final score of 21-7, 21-11.

“Overall, the team showed some good growth over the week and I’m hoping that we will start feeling more empowered to see how much of what we can do can help us be our better selves in pressure situations,” McGloin added. “There is a lot of pressure in beach volleyball, I feel like much more than when playing on a larger team indoors. There is only you and your partner, and no bench to be subbed out if you want a break.”

McGloin said a player might get served every ball and have to find a way to score for the pair most of the time, which can put a lot of stress on the player’s mindset.

“As a team with high expectations this season, we need to embrace the high-pressure opportunities we will have as we move toward playoffs and fight to be our best selves, which is hard to do when you’re under a lot of stress,” he added. “I’m so happy with how these Falcons finished the week, but we still have a ton of work to do and some big matchups coming up that will test us and hopefully help us grow.”

McGloin said his JV roster also deserved some time in the spotlight this week, with the pairs of Sydney Boeshans/Sophie Wickland and Jeneya Boone/LJ Holland earning incredible wins while showing a lot of growth and resilience.