It was a very busy first week of competition for the high school volleyball team as the Lady Falcons went on to handily best Wickenburg in regular season play before going on to plow through a 7-4-2 weekend at the two-day Payson tournament.

Play continues this week with three regular outings. The local squad welcomed Coolidge to the high school court Tuesday evening, Sept. 10, and will be on the road to take on the Florence Gophers tonight, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m.

The team will return home again this Thursday, Sept. 12, to play host to Saguaro at 6 p.m. Then, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, the team will once again be on the road for a 6 p.m. outing at Scottsdale Christian.

“We play five matches in the next two weeks, four of which are against some really tough teams,” said head coach Brennan O’Connor.

“Florence and Saguaro are going to be especially tough, but I think we can beat them.”

O’Connor went on to invite fans out to Thursday night’s game against Saguaro, as he expects it to be a great showdown.

“Saguaro is a good Valley rivalry and a lot of their fans usually come out to watch,” he added.

“We always play them in a close match, and we could use the fans to help cheer us on.”

Wickenburg

Before playing 13 games in just two days at the Payson tournament, the Falcons kicked off the 2013 season with a match against Wickenburg on Thursday, Sept. 5, going on to win 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-9).

“We looked good out there,” O’Connor said.

“You could tell that we’re a more experienced team this year. Everyone looked very comfortable playing together.”

Jalin Yoder led the offensive charge with 16 kills as Morgan Difelice added another five. Yoder also put in five aces with Haley Braun providing four.

Braun kept the ball moving with 40 digs as Morgan Difelice added 22 of her own.

Keeping the ball moving on offense was Gabby Mei, offering up 29 assists.

“The chemistry was really good against Wickenburg,” O’Connor said.

“We came out a little rusty in the first game, but we improved in games two and three, stretching our lead in both games.”

Payson tourney

Over the weekend, the Falcons played in a massive early-season tournament in Payson, digging into eight games on Friday, Sept. 6, and another five on Saturday, Sept. 7.

O’Connor explained that matches were just 20 minutes long during the first day of competition with longer matches taking place on day two. The rules were unique, too.

“You could beat a team 25-3 in the first game and be up 1-0,” O’Connor explained.

“But if you still had a few minutes left, started a second game and the other team went up, like, 4-3 before time ran out, then the whole thing would end in a tie.”

Overall, though, O’Connor said the Falcons were mostly solid throughout the weekend. The team bested Show Low twice and Cesar Chavez twice, as well as claiming wins over Winslow and Maryvale.

The Falcons lost to Payson, Seton Catholic, Florence and Blue Ridge, and tied Verrado and Safford for a final tournament record of 7-4-2.

“We don’t usually play that many games in a single tournament, but it was nice to play such a wide variety of teams; some of which are among the best in the state,” O’Connor said.

“Some of the teams we played we’ll see in the regular season, so it was nice to get an early look at them.”

O’Connor said the team is still struggling with consistency, as they’ll play solid volleyball one game and then drop the ball the next.

“We can play anyone in the state when we’re on, we just need to get to a point when we’re always at our best,” he added.

“Otherwise, it was good competition.”