The Lady Falcons were ready to say goodbye to their season but, by the strength of their schedule, the Fountain Hills High School volleyball team was able to play in the state tournament.

On Nov. 14, Fountain Hills played one game in the state tournament against Empire. The Lady Falcons lost the match in four sets, 25-21, 15-25, 29-31, 13-25.

Fountain Hills volleyball ended its 2020 season with a record of 7-5. The Lady Falcons started strong with two shutouts against Bourgade Catholic and Payson, but their strength of schedule would next challenge them with two losses against Valley Christian and Northwest Christian.

The Falcons were prepped to go on a run in their last four games of the season before COVID-19 shut them down for good; or at least that’s what they thought.

“We finally realized that we were not going to be able to play in the play-in game [for state]…we were still going to be in quarantine for our final four games, so we had just reached a state of acceptance,” said head coach Peter McGloin. “Then, the Friday the season was over, we had our last meeting of the year. We said our goodbyes and, two hours after the meeting, I got a text that said ‘you guys moved into the top eight.’”

With the end of the season in flux across the sport, the Falcons’ tough schedule was enough to nudge the team up the ranks to compete in the final tournament.

Leading into their surprise trip to the state tournament, McGloin said the Lady Falcons did not have a lot of time to prepare.

“We got permission to practice on Thursday, practice on Friday and then play in the state tournament on Saturday,” McGloin said. “So, going into practice, we had 15 days off [due to quarantine] with no one touching a volleyball, so my bar was low. Then, Thursday and Friday were the best practices we had the entire year.”

Unfortunately, it seems that mental errors that stood in the way of Fountain Hills earlier in the season cropped up again in the final game.

“So, the first set we end up playing amazing volleyball and won 25-21 against Empire. We played so hard and so together, with no fear, it was all Falcon Volleyball at its finest,” McGloin said. “Then, we just weren’t able to maintain it.”

McGloin wasn’t able to accomplish everything he wanted in this unique season, but he said he is happy with what he and the team did manage to pull off, all things considered.

“For me, the most important thing was that, with this team not having a full season, we weren’t able to learn Falcon Volleyball on the court…but we learned Falcon Volleyball off the court,” McGloin said. “Before and after this last game, there was so much that the players were saying to each other that was filled with so much love. I think we are one of the few teams who became closer this season.”