The brand-new boys’ volleyball team at Meridian High School struggled in its opening week, losing both of its neutral-site contests in three set sweeps. There were expected to be growing pains with this ragtag upstart group as they regularly compete against much bigger schools with established programs, but the positive side of this dilemma is that much like an expansion team in a professional sport, it means there’s plenty of room for improvement. And, as the boys competed in their home opener on Tuesday night against James Madison High School, that improvement was already on display.

The Mustangs came out firing in the game’s first set, building a big lead early on and then hanging on to win 25-16. They dropped the next two, 25-20 and 25-21 respectively, but bounced back with a 25-21 win in the fourth set with the game on the line, forcing a fifth and final round with a target score of only 15. Meridian lost 15-8, but showed plenty of fight in the defeat and head coach Shannon Hladky believed they played well enough to win.

“We had,” Hladky noted.