When fall sports season enters full swing at Meridian High School later this month, there will be one more team in action than there had been in previous years: boys’ volleyball. For the past two seasons, this group existed as an informal club, but thanks to the drive of some determined students and a willing parent to serve as head coach, the boys’ volleyball team will now compete alongside the girls as an officially recognized Varsity sport.
The original club was started by two seniors — then sophomores — Joe Kritenbrink and William Hladky, the latter of whose father Shannon is the coach. They were able to gain enough support to form a team, mostly among other students in their year, and the group began by playing roughly two matchups per week for about eight weeks in the NoVA Boys Volleyball League. This season they are set to make the jump to VHSL, and there will also be a JV team for developmental purposes.
The team is still very much in its grassroots stages, as Hladky — whose only volleyball coaching experience is the past two club seasons — is its only staff member and will be using volunteers (all who may be interested are welcome!) to serve as assistants throughout the year. The plan is to eventually have a full staff, as well as for the team to have its own buses and equipment, which it is currently borrowing from the womens’ program. It will likely be a bit of a learning curve in the gym, as most of the students on the team have no travel or Varsity volleyball experience and will be matched up with bigger schools with more established programs, but that’s okay — everyone has to start somewhere.
On the plus side for the boys is the fact that they will have no shortage of upperclassmen, with nine of the team’s twelve members being seniors, including Kritenbrink, Wesley Crawford, Ben Berol, Conrad Diemel and Cole Kezar-Malzhan, all of whom have been involved with the team from the very early stages and were given special shoutouts by Hladky for their competitive work ethic in frequently practicing away from school activities. Hladky’s son William, mentioned above as one of the team’s founders, will not be playing as he works as a manager for Meridian’s field hockey squad, but may still be involved during various practice sessions. Meanwhile junior Niko Kruse Lawson, who recently moved here from London, previously played Varsity volleyball overseas (the only member of the team to boast that experience) while the group’s youngest member is freshman Charlie Santee, who will compete for the starting setter job.
The boys’ volleyball team’s first game will be on August 26 against South County. It figures to be the most anticipated opener of this coming season, and all members of the Mustang faithful are invited and encouraged to show their support for Meridian’s newest fall squad.