The first week of fall sports season for the Meridian Mustangs brought mostly sub-optimal results, but the boys and girls were able to turn it around in quick fashion with some big victories as the calendar turned to September. With football, field hockey, volleyball, and cross country all in action, let’s take a look at how the Mustangs fared.
Headlining the week was a massive statement victory by the football team, who went into Dominion High School on Friday and won 27-24. That evens their season record at 1-1 and they’ll now have a week off before preparing for their home opener on September 20th against Culpeper County. They appear to be improved from a year ago, which itself was a noticeable jump forward from the one-win 2022 season.
Field hockey had a busy week as well, scoring a pair of dominant 6-0 road wins over Liberty-Bealeton on Tuesday and at Heritage on Thursday. That improves them to 3-0 on the year despite massive roster turnover from last season’s State Finals squad, showing that head coach Anne Steenhoek and her girls are a well-oiled machine as they operate with a “next one up” mentality. This week they’ll play at Brentsville on Tuesday before returning home to face Jackson-Reed.
Boys’ volleyball had its long-awaited home opener on Tuesday against James Madison, and was able to win its first sets of the season despite ultimately falling 3-2. Another loss at Westfield on Thursday dropped them to 0-4 on the season, but the team once again managed to take a set in the 3-1 defeat as they continue trying to build their foundation. They’ll be on the road plenty this week, playing at McLean on Thursday and then traveling all the way to Mechanicsville on Friday. Meanwhile, the girls picked up their first win of the year by sweeping Fauquier on Wednesday in three sets, their only action of the week. They now face a heavy schedule at Liberty-Bealeton on Tuesday before hosting Millbrook on Thursday, and then they’ll compete in a tournament at Alexandria City over the weekend.
Cross country saw a successful outing in its first district meet of the season, competing at Brentsville on Wednesday. Both the boys and girls defeated their opponents, with William Anderson taking top overall honors in the boys’ race while Kyle Kuck finished third. Michelle Malherio and Ally Campbell placed in the overall top five for the girls, who were matched up against Fauquier. Their squad’s next action will be this coming weekend at Lake Braddock for a relay competition.
