The high school beach volleyball team entered the state tournament last week, handily besting their first-round opponents, Casteel, by a team score of 5-0.

According to head coach Peter McGloin, while he was happy to highlight all of the positives following the game, he had to keep things honest with his athletes.

“I was a little bit frustrated with the way we played,” he said. “We have goals about holding ourselves to higher standards and pushing ourselves to makes shots that will score against anybody we might have to play.”

McGloin said that that kind of “no fear” play is the only way the squad will continue to grow and he didn’t see it on display during the opening round of state.

“There was a lot of playing safe, or playing not to lose,” McGloin continued. “We still dominated every match and won 5-0. If you were to just look at the scores, you would think we played great volleyball – and some teams did – but too many of us were playing too safe.”

McGloin highlighted Alyssa Barbagallo and Ana Jackson as pushing themselves through the match, staying aggressive no matter who their opponent was.

“I feel like Rylee Bell and Amelia Charles are also getting into their groove again,” McGloin said. “They’re back on track and looking like they were earlier in the season.”

Jackson and Barbagallo moved to 9-1 on the season with Bell and Charles at 8-1 on the season following this latest win.

“I’m not saying the other teams didn’t play well or have some highlights, but they weren’t pushing themselves like I know they can,” McGloin said. “But happily, the team rose to the challenge in the practices that followed and we’ve had some of the best practices I’ve seen all season.

“They were playing aggressive and with a purpose and, if we keep playing like that, we’re going to be a really, really tough team to beat.”

The Falcons played against Chandler Prep in the state semifinals Tuesday afternoon, April 25. Before the match, McGloin said he was excited by the opportunity to play them again, as the teams stack up nicely and, he added, Chandler Prep is comprised of some very nice athletes and coaches.

“They’ve got a really positive program, so this should be fun,” McGloin said. “They were the only team to beat us this season, so we’re looking forward to this match. It’ll be a really good challenge in the semifinals and a really tight battle.”

If victorious, the Falcons will go on to play in the championship round of the state tournament next Wednesday, May 3. That game will be hosted out of Mesquite High School at 6:30 p.m. The winner of the Fountain Hills/Chandler Prep game will take on the winner of the Horizon Honors/Trivium Prep team.