The calendar has turned to October, meaning sports season at Meridian High School is now more than a month into full swing. All of the school’s programs have had time to settle into their seasons, and one of them, the brand new boys’ volleyball team, seems to have greatly benefitted from its opportunities to improve. After starting the season with seven straight losses, the boys have reeled off five wins in a row, with victories last week at Herndon on Monday and Woodson on Wednesday (both in five sets), and then a three-set sweep at home against Marshall on Thursday. The startup program appears to be ahead of schedule, a testament to the dedication of coach Shannon Hladky and his resilient unit, and will have a well-earned break this week as they don’t play again until October 9.
Elsewhere on the volleyball court, the girls split a pair of matchups by beating Brentsville 3-1 at home on Tuesday and then losing 3-0 at Millbrook on Thursday, putting them at 7-9 on the year. This week they’ll play at Skyline on Tuesday before joining the boys on break, while additionally field hockey will finally get some rest after it hosts Liberty on Tuesday. Anne Steenhoek’s girls have fought hard to back up their 2023 State Finals appearance and earned another pair of wins this past week by beating Kettle Run 3-0 last Tuesday and Justice 1-0 on Monday (both at home), but they also took their first loss of the season to Washington-Liberty on Thursday, leaving them with a record of 9-1-1.
Football took a rough loss as well, falling 28-14 to Brentsville on Friday after leading 14-7 early in the third quarter. Now at 1-3 on the year, they’ll have one more chance in this string of home games to earn a win in front of the Mustang crowd when they host James Wood on Friday. Meanwhile, cross country competed in a quad meet against Skyline, Warren County, and Manassas Park at Warren County this past weekend (rescheduled from September 18), and both the boys and girls finished third of the four schools. Nathan Walker led the boys with a 16th-place individual finish while Wendy Abstone was 13th to pace the girls. The Mustangs will travel out of state to the Gettysburg Invitational this weekend in Pennsylvania.
Perhaps the biggest news of the week involves Meridian’s golf squad, however, as they have already begun their postseason. The Mustangs finished second out of twelve schools competing in the District Tournament at Shenandoah Valley on Thursday, while Noah Peng led all golfers in the tournament by shooting a 65, six under par. They will advance to the Regional Championship, again at Shenandoah Valley, which will be played next Monday.
Finally, the competitive cheer squad got its season underway, hosting a handful of schools in a competition on Wednesday night. A great time was had by all, and the group will see its next action on October 9th at Liberty-Bealeton.
