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Thunder Mountain's first-year volleyball team has not won many matches (one, for those scoring at home).

But hey, who's counting?

The Falcons certainly aren't. They're too busy having fun. Besides, it's not the destination, it's the journey, though the destination looms with this weekend's Region V Volleyball Tournament against Juneau-Douglas and Ketchikan, held in Sitka at Mt. Edgecumbe High School. Juneau-Douglas hasn't lost a match to either the Falcons or the Kings all season, but Thunder Mountain is ready for another crack at their cross-town rivals.

"We're going to go and get some really good playing time in," junior outside hitter Maggie Meiners said. "We're going in as the underdog, but we're going to step up our game and have a lot of fun."

Coach Adriana Rodriguez said the team has made tremendous strides since the first open gym.

"It's been amazing to see how many improvements each player has made individually. And as a team overall, it's just been leaps and bounds," she said. "I remember the first time they played Ketchikan; it was a lot of deer-in-the-headlights looks of, 'Oh gosh, what do we do?'

"This looks like a completely different team," Meiners agreed. "The only resemblance is that it's the same girls. We've grown in our skill, but we've definitely come together more as a team. We're battling the mind game with volleyball, and I think that's where we've grown the most."

Rodriguez said the girls have not been working on specific skills, just playing together.

"We're trying to be morecohesive as a team and really communicate more," she said. "We're trying to work on the confidence piece when we step on the court. I think that is definitely our biggest struggle as a team - getting over the fact that we're a first-year team and just play the game."

Rodriguez said the coaching staff has been smashing laser-like kills at the girls to prepare them for Ketchikan and Juneau-Douglas' big hitters, like the Kings' Aroon Duncanson, and the Crimson Bears' Sarah Tarver, Krista Barril, Taylor Larson and Daffodil Alinson.

"Something we've been talking about a lot is finding the strong side for (the other team's) hitters, and cutting it off," she said. "The girls are really starting to understand that. We're taking more ownership of the net, the girls are really enjoying doing that and they're doing a good job."

All in all, Rodriguez said the team is ready for a fresh start in their first postseason.

"I think it's going to be a wonderful experience for the girls to play these teams outside their home turf," she said. "It's an even playing field, and what we've talked about is we're all starting in the same place. If you want a spot for state, you have to earn it. There are no records here, no win-loss. We all start at the same spot.

"It's going to be who wants it more and pushes thehardest."