Every set was a close one with the Falcons winning by two points each time, but they were able to come out on top for the win on Aug 25.

Outside hitter Jayda Harris-Amete played hard and with high energy the entire game.

“When I get mad, when I mess up I usually get in my head and I learned early on to find something that helps you cool down and that’s gum for me” stated Harris-Amete when asked what she does to help her keep that intensity level up.

Head coach Kari Hemmerling guided the team to a great win and says the more the team gets live match experience the more they will improve as the season goes on.

“We have 12 freshmen on the roster,” Hemmerling says. “It’s just reps, and reps and reps, and we can practice a ton but it’s the real-life competition that you learn the most.”

She says the team has discussed the goals they have in place for this season and they are hoping to win their conference and make it to the state tournament.

The first set started quite slowly as each teammate started working with each other to detect their opponent’s patterns on how they play.

As the game progressed there was no doubt both teams were very good. And as the first set ended, the Falcons won 27-25.

The Falcons trailed the Rustlers by six points at the beginning of the second set but they put up a strong fight and tied it up with Golden West at 17 a piece in the set. They went on to win the set 25-23.

As the third set began you could tell the team was determined to win. They were feeling the pressure as they had already won the previous two sets.

The game was intense but the Falcons were ahead of Golden West by nine.

By the time the Falcons had 20 points, Golden West started catching up and the pressure kept intensifying.

Though they would tie, Falcons managed to stay a few points ahead eventually leading the team to a 25-23 victory.

“We’re not as you can see the tallest team, but we have a lot of fight and they’re pretty gritty and they work really really hard.”

“It’s hard to beat a team that has good volleyball skills, high volleyball IQs, and the will to win and so we’re just hoping that carries us as far as possible.” Hemmerling explains.

Defensive specialist Pricilla Castillo put her all into this game “I think we’re ready, I think we’re going to do really good this season.

I’m really proud of our team and what we’ve been accomplishing” said Castillo when asked if she thinks they’re ready for this season