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BOULDER — Over the past few years at Fairview High School, as the volleyball team experienced a revolving door of coaches and school administrators, consistency on the court became a near impossibility. First-year head coach Amber Carroll is determined to make that a thing of the past. Before the Knights even played their first point of 2026, Carroll exuded confidence in their abilities, believing that last year’s 5-18 showing was just a bug, not a feature. In the middle of August, she told BoCoPreps.com: “I expect to see the team thrive this season. Their last few seasons have not been a reflection of their skills or potential, so with this season being a fresh start, stacked with senior leadership and teeming with talent, they are ready to show up and show out.” The ladies certainly showed out in their 3-1 rivalry victory at Boulder High on Tuesday night. Despite strong competition from the Panthers, the Knights surged to a 25-22 victory in the opening set. All the while, Carroll was hanging onto every point from the bench, cheering at the top of her lungs whenever her girls scored a point. Once the Knights had tied the night up with a bow, she led them in a “I believe that we just won” cheer. “I feel like she’s brought a whole new life to (the team),” junior outside hitter Ella Shaw said. “Before, in the past, it was really rough. There just seems to be a really lifted spirit, honestly. It was just a really weird environment. We weren’t really communicating as a whole group and program. But now, this year, it seems to be flowing much better.” The Panthers, not to be completely outdone, interrupted that flow with a 25-16 victory in the second set. They fell behind quickly in the third, dropping 11-4, before coming all the way back to tie things up. “I think our defense was taking a bit of a hit from Fairview’s offense, but I think we really put up a big block. We did what we could to slow down the ball,” Boulder sophomore outside hitter Reese Smith said. “We’ve worked a lot in practice on different shots, using our options, utilizing the other side’s defense and being more aggressive with it. We became a lot more aggressive with our serves this year, and our serve-receive has gotten a lot more consistent.” That huge comeback ended up being for naught. Fairview claimed the final two frames by scores of 25-21 and 25-17, pushing its early-season record to 3-2. The Knights will next host STEAD on Tuesday, while the Panthers, still searching for their first win, will welcome Platte Canyon on Friday morning. Shaw believes the future is bright under Carroll’s guidance. “Last year, it would seem like we’d start off good on some sets, and then we would slowly lose our spirit and get down on ourselves,” Shaw said. “But this year, Coach is really helping us get back. If we’re down, if we’re losing energy, she’s helping us get more energized and come back. In the past, we would have just let that go and given up. We’re actually winning and seeing that we can do things, that we can win games. It’s so much better. I think this season is going to be really fun.” Elsewhere, Peak to Peak took down Lyons 3-1 (25-19, 12-25, 25-21, 25-21) to improve to 2-5 on the season while the Lions fell to 1-3. Erie (1-3) defeated Frederick (0-2) 3-1 (25-14, 25-10, 19-25, 25-13) and Monarch picked up its first win of the season (1-3) over Loveland (25-15, 23-25, 25-17, 25-18).