Fountain Hills High School volleyball coach Peter McGloin is very excited about the upcoming season.

Taking over the program last year, he said he came in not knowing what to expect out of his young group of Falcon athletes. What he got, though, was a pleasant surprise.

“Last season was fantastic,” he said. “When we had this conversation last year, expectations were a lot lower and our only goal was to make it to the playoffs and grow.

Taking on a tough schedule in a division with around 80 teams, McGloin said that nobody expected the Falcons to play so well in 2015.

“And then they exceeded all of our expectations,” he continued. “I mean, we knew we were qualified for the playoffs before fall break and, at that point, we had to make new goals.”

McGloin said 2015 served as a year for building confidence, as well as an understanding of what Falcon volleyball was going to be.

“At our awards dinner in December, we already started talking about our goals for this season,” McGloin said.

Moving back to a division structure that stacks the Falcons up against about half as many teams, competing against more schools that are comparable in size, McGloin said that a more prepared Falcon flock has even greater potential in the coming months.

“Even if we were playing in last year’s division, I think we would be one of the favorites,” McGloin said. “Now, I think we’ll be one of the top three contenders for the state championship.”

Now with a more experienced squad, the Falcons are further bolstered this year by a huge roster. The program has doubled in size since 2015, giving the Falcons the opportunity to put together the first freshman squad in a long time. Then, of course, come the stacked JV and varsity rosters.

“We’re probably one of the bigger volleyball programs in the state right now,” McGloin continued. “It’s exciting to me to see so many girls coming out to play. I think part of it was the buzz, the word of mouth, that we have a lot of fun. We want to win, we want to work hard, but our main objective is to make this a fun experience where they make memories that will last a lifetime.”

At practices, McGloin said that when the Falcons play “the right way,” it is a beautiful thing.

“We’re already seeing glimpses of spectacular volleyball,” he continued. “We going to try to maintain that and keep playing the same way all the time. No matter who we are playing or what the score is, we’ve got to be playing with the same characteristics of Falcon volleyball we keep talking about at practices.”

McGloin said that his team is still young, but he’s got about a dozen ladies back with varsity and/or playoff experience. In other words, there’s a lot of depth on the roster from top to bottom, something he expects will carry the Falcons far in 2016.

“We’re setting our goals as high as we can this season,” McGloin said. “We’re not worried about who we’re playing. We just know that, if we play the way we need to play and if the process is right, we’ll be right there in the hunt for the state championship.

“That’s our goal. That banner hasn’t been filled up since 2005, I think. We want a region championship and we want a state championship. It’s going to be tough, but we can do it.”

McGloin said that his team knows what’s needed to reach its potential, so he’s expecting an intense season.

“Expect a high-powered team that looks like they’re having fun and playing hard all of the time,” McGloin said. “We were proud of that last year and the expectation this year is that we’ll be fighting to the end.”

The Falcons’ season begins next Tuesday, Aug. 30, with a road game against Payson beginning at 6 p.m. The team will host North Pointe Preparatory in the first home match of the season a day later, Aug. 31, beginning at 6 p.m.