The Fountain Hills High School varsity volleyball team is in their last leg of the season. The Falcons had nine games last week, seven came in a tournament, and the team has four more games this week to end the season.

The Falcons have experienced growing pains, but head coach Olivia Long has noticed a lot of improvement lately.

The Falcons started out last week on the road with a 3-1 win over Bourgade Catholic for the second time this season.

The Falcons came back home and hosted Northwest Christian last Thursday, Oct. 21. The Falcons lost 3-0, but Long said her team had improved from the first time they lost against the Crusaders.

“They played a lot better,” Long said. “Northwest is just a really good team. Their hitters are incredible.”

The Falcons recovered from their home loss with a 3-4 record in the Chandler Prep tournament. The Falcons went 1-5 in the only other tournament they competed in this year. The Falcons earned wins over Marcos de Niza, Tonopah Valley and Morenci High School, and lost to Trivium Prep, Odyssey, Chandler Prep and Tempe Prep.

“These girls showed heart and effort,” Long said. “They went out and played strong despite feeling a burnout from having at least three games a week. We had one senior, one junior, six sophomores and three freshmen facing teams like Trivium who have seven seniors, three of whom are committed to play college volleyball.”

The tournament began at 4 p.m. last Friday, Oct. 22, and 8 a.m. last Saturday, Oct. 23, making a very long week for the volleyball team. Long and her team have to stay mentally strong to finish out the last week of the regular season.

The Falcons will have three of their four final games at home, but that won’t make the challenge much easier. On Monday, the Falcons welcomed American Leadership Academy – Gilbert North, a 20-7 team. On Tuesday, the Falcons had a double-header with Wickenburg since a match earlier this season was postponed. The Falcons have a similar record to Wickenburg but have no experience playing them this season.

This Thursday, Oct. 28, the Falcons have their last game of the regular season at Camp Verde. The Falcons won 3-1 the last time the two schools met, but that was in Fountain Hills.

The Falcons are not likely to make the playoffs this season, but Long believes her young team will be much better next year and the year after. Finishing this season strong will help set up momentum for the future.

“A few areas we struggled in this weekend were serve and serve receive,” Long said. “In the games that we won, the biggest difference was our passing game and our ability to serve tough. At the end of the day, we still have a lot of room for improvement but I'm confident this team will be dominant in the coming years.”