Season begins with two dominant wins

Jan 20, 2024

Junior Kit Garman hovers in the air as she hits the ball over the net. Garman leads all Falcons with 18 kills through the first two games of 2023. (Independent Newsmedia/George Zeliff)

The Fountain Hills High School volleyall team is off to a 2-0 start after beating ALA-Ironwood and Payson on back-to-back nights Tuesday, Aug. 29, and Wednesday, Aug. 30. The Falcons played ALA-Ironwood in the season opener last year and won 3-2 in overtime. The Falcons beat both teams 3-0 to start the 2023 season, and they put their offseason work on full display.

The Faclons are filled with talent and experience this year. Senior Bella Garman is a varsity captain for the thrid year in a row, senior Sophie Wickland is a captain for the second straight year, and senior Sydney Boeshans is a captain for the first time this year. All three have been startes since their sophomore seasons.

The Falcons came out firing and had double-digit aces as a team in both games. The Falcons beat ALA 13-5 in the category, and senior Jeneya Boone led with four aces. The Falcons out-served Payson 10-3 in aces, with junior Jocelyn Bloedel serving four.

“When we played ALA last year, we had 30 missed serves total,” head coach Olivia Long said. “I think this year, it was just show our improvement. Show the work we’ve put in. Show that we’re ready to take on these teams and not just compete but prove ourselves.”

The Falcons flew right by ALA without breaking much of a sweat. They closed out the first set 25-19 and then ran away with the second set, 25-6. ALA rallied and took their first lead of the night at 3-2 in the third set, and they kept it close until the score was tied 10-10. The Falcons started to separate themselves and won the final set 25-16.

Junior Kit Garman led the Falcons with nine kills, and Wickland was right behind her with eight kills. Boone and junior Zoe Kohoutek each had five kills in the opener.

“We have such a strong team this year,” Kit Garman said. “We have a big front row and we have a back row that’s quick and ready to hustle.”

Garman also led the Falcons with nine kills in the Battle of the Beeline, and Wickland, Bloedel and Bella Garman all had six kills against Payson. The Longhorns offered a bigger challenge and most sets were back and forth until the Falcons pulled ahead at the end. The Falcons out-scored Payson 9-4 in the final stretch of the first set to win 25-17, and they pulled ahead from up 17-15 in the second set to win 25-18.

The Falcons found separation earlier in the third set, and won 25-17. The Falcons will travel to Payson this weekend for the Longhorn Invitational tournament, and they have a rematch in Payson on Monday, Sept. 18, at 6:30 p.m.

“If not undefeated, I think we’re going to do very well,” Bella Garman said about the Longhorn Invitational. “We had a Show Low tournament this summer and we did well. We came in second actually, and we didn’t even have our full varsity team. We only had a couple, so I have high expectations for this tournament.”

Bella is confident in her teammates’ skills and said the Falcons are runing more advanced plays this year. The Falcons hope to perform well in their first season torunament and take the momentum with them as they enter a seven-game road stretch. The Falcons play their first two away games against teams ranked in the top 10 last year, and the don’t have another home game until Thursday, Sept. 28.

During the long break away from their home gym, the Falcons will rely on their teammates and sisters to keep their spirits up. For the second year in a row, Long assigned the varisty players with little sisters from the freshman and junior varsity teams. Throughout the season, the sisters get each other their favorite snacks and sports drinks and cheer for each other during games.

“It really just helps for all the teams to bond and keep our morale up,” Bella Garman said. “We’re all very supportive of each other.”

After the Payson Invitational, the Falcons play at Gilbert Christian on Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. They play at Valley Christian on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m., and then play their first region opponent, Chino Valley, on Monday, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m.

We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

The 4:30 News email is sent out on business days at 4:30 pm. Items include links to new stories, calendar events, occasional banner ads and weather.

Breaking News alerts from The Fountain Hills Times. These emails will be delivered only when there is breaking news deemed important enough to be sent out immediately on an as-needed basis.