Juniors Bella Garman and Sydney Boeshans did something for the Fountain Hills High School beach volleyball team in the first round of the playoffs that they’d only done once before. The top pair put the team on their back and won in overtime to defeat No. 9 Mesquite (8-3) 3-2 on Monday, April 17.

Garman and Boeshans beat Eastmark in a tiebreaker set to win 3-2 in the second match of the season on Feb. 24. The stakes were much higher in the first round, and Garman and Boeshans won the last two sets 23-21, 15-6 to win after losing the first set 21-8.

“I was actually very stressed out,” Garman said. “It was the second set, and it was 18-20 for them, and I was like, ‘if I miss this serve, I lose playoffs for everybody’…We’re a very supportive duo. We click really well together and there’s never any negative energy on the court.”

The pressure was on the top pair, and all eyes were on them at Golden Eagle Park. They played with their backs against the wall, and they had 15 ties and 10 lead changes in the second set. After Garman and Boeshans won the second set, they jumped out ahead 6-0 in the third set and went on to win so the team could advance.

The Falcons also got wins from their No. 2 and No. 5 pairs. Sophomores Jocelyn Bloedel and Kitrick Garman won the second pair handily, 21-11, 21-16, but juniors Bree March and Savannah Peterson fought harder than they had all season to win 22-20, 22-20.

March and Peterson were down 20-15 in the first set, and they hit shots perfectly on the line or in the back corners to make it 20-18. Peterson served two aces in a row, and then they fought for two more points in a row to win.

March and Peterson were down 12-6 in the second set, but they rallied from behind and caught up to make it 18-18. They fought back and forth, until March nailed the back left corner and followed it up with an ace to win 22-20.

“Game on the line, are we thinking about the score? Are we thinking about the white flag? Heck no,” head coach Peter McGloin said. “To be able to execute in those types of situations, you have to be fully in the moment. You have to be committed to whatever you’re doing. You have to be confident in yourself.”

Junior Elle Schulze and senior Liv Sopeland lost the four pair 21-14, 21-17, and sophomore Lucia Kalmbach and junior Sophie Wickland lost 23-21, 21-19 in the three pair. Kalmbach and Wickland lost 21-16, 21-17 in the second round, but McGloin said he loved the way they battled.

“We knew we were playing a good team,” McGloin said. “You have to be purposeful. You have to be aggressive. You can’t just lob balls over the net and expect something good to happen, and they were throwing punches.”

No. 1 Salpointe Catholic stood in the way of the Falcons advancing any further as a team. The No. 8 Falcons (11-4) lost 5-0 last Wednesday, April 19, and it was their only 5-0 loss this year.

Eight of the 10 staters for Salpointe were upperclassmen, and five of those were seniors. The No. 4 and No. 5 pairs lost 21-12, 21-5 and 21-7, 21-7, but the top three pairs all had closer matches.

After the No. 3 pair lost 21-16, 21-17, Bella and Boeshans lost 21-18, 21-14, Bloedel and Kitrick lost 21-13, 21-15. It was the first No. 1 match that Bella and Boeshans lost, and it was the first loss Bloedel and Kitrick had together all season.

The Falcons lost one senior last season, and they will lose Sopeland to graduation this year. They have six rising seniors and three rising juniors able to return, and all of them got their first playoff victory, which will only inspire them to reach higher next year.

“We’ve been told the past three years, every year is some growth year because there was such a big senior class my freshman year, so none of us got to play,” Bella said. “But now, we’re going to have a majority of seniors on our varsity team and indoor. This is a year where we really have to put in work because this is all our last years playing. This is not a growth year. This is our peak year.”

McGloin said rosters like the one he’ll have next year don’t come around too often. He has high hopes for the team and said they can’t let up in the offseason. The Falcons had six freshmen on junior varsity this year, and McGloin said they’ll be nipping at heels trying to get playing time next year.

The Falcons will have an edge like nobody else next year. Five of their 10 starters will have previously played in the individual pairs tournament. Wickland made it to the second round with Mia Kohoutek last year, and two other pairs are going this year.

The tournament will take place at Casteel High School next week. Bella and Boeshans earned the No. 5 pair ranking in the division and have a first round bye. They play their first match on Tuesday, May 2, at 5 p.m. If they win, they’ll play in the quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. on May 2.

Kitrick and Bloedel had 13 wins this season, same as Bella and Boeshans. The second pair did not receive a first round bye, so they will play their first match on Monday, May 1, at 5 p.m.

The semi-finals and finals will be on Thursday, May 4, at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Casteel High School. The Times will report if one or both the pairs advance.