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With every win, the Madison Park girls’ volleyball team only becomes hungrier for the next. The Cardinals set a goal last season that had never been achieved by a Boston City League team. Only a handful of matches into the year, they believed a spotless record was possible. It was, and this season, Madison Park is out to prove that making history is not the final rung of the ladder. The first squad to win the City League title undefeated — its second championship in three years — is not satisfied. Their trip to the Division 5 quarterfinals — a five-set loss to Smith Voke — is the furthest a City League team has reached, but this team wants a state title. “No one knew if it was going to happen, but after the fifth or sixth game we started to believe that it was in sight and chased it,” said fifth-year coach Will Harvey, twice a Globe Coach of the Year. “To get to the [quarterfinals] and drop it, it was a great feat for the school to get that far, but to come up short in the fifth set, it was a bittersweet taste.” The players stepped on the court this fall for their first scrimmage against a team that achieved that pinnacle: Oliver Ames did not lose in 2025. Facing others, including Newton North and Brookline, the Cardinals saw half of the Globe’s six highest-ranking teams. “Watching those teams and the players on those teams, they’re calm,” said senior setter Noelia Guerrero, last year’s City League championship MVP. “They cheer all around. They always stay calm. I think that’s something we can definitely implement to our team to help win the [championship] this season.” Two six-rotation senior outsides, Jazmine McKinney and Ryhana Edwards, give Guerrero familiar hands to feed at the net. Harvey wants to increase their tempo and aggressiveness. There’s another level he believes they’re close to reaching. First, the trick will be getting first-time starters to replace last year’s seniors, notably libero Emily Ramirez De Jesus, who elevated the team with their back row play. “We have high expectations for the people who are stepping up for the seniors who stepped up and the people coming back after being undefeated,” said McKinney. “We have to show the people who have stepped up: here’s the reason why we’re undefeated. Now they have to show that they deserve to be on a team that was undefeated. It’s not bad tension, but there’s so much tension within the team of who wants to show out and be the best.” It’s a remarkable culture of success in a short time. These seniors were freshmen when the Cardinals won their first City League title in 22 years. They won another as juniors. Harvey didn’t have volleyball experience before taking over the boys’ program in 2016. Now, he’s leading two teams on upward trajectories as volleyball in Boston grows. “The ultimate goal is to get somebody seen by one of these colleges,” he said. “The city doesn’t get girls to come right out and be seen, they usually have to go to clubs.” Getting those five wins in November would be a loud statement that Boston deserves the attention. “A lot of us know how to get there,” said McKinney. “Once it comes toward the time of getting to that point, we get burnt out. A lot of people don’t want to put in the energy at the end of the season. Some people are tired, some people don’t want to push through. It’s more of the mental now.” Through their tough preseason schedule, the Cardinals proved they belong on the court with some of the state’s powers. They endured tough sets. They made adjustments. The next couple of months are about putting it all together for what they know is possible. “It hypes us up in a way,” said Edwards. “It makes us want to fight more to get that win and win that championship. It makes us more hungry.” Set points • The identity at Joseph Case is not new, but coach Brendan Kelly does not take for granted that his players adopt it and take pride in it. It didn’t matter that two of its top three hitters in kills per set last year were freshmen. The Swansea squad upset defending Division 3 champion Medfield to open the 2025 campaign and challenged Bellingham in the final by understanding that it’s OK to not look dominant. Just play great defense and let the points come. They’ll be without sophomore middle Kayla Dowdell (shoulder), but sleep on Case at your own peril. “When things get tough with us, we go to a place where we’re comfortable and we’re not afraid to get dirty,” Kelly said. “Because of some of our lack of height, we depend on speed. We try to dictate the pace . . . We’re comfortable out of system. “There’s an old-school element to it.” • A multiple-time state champion while coaching Case, Denise Levesque is stepping up for Attleboro while coach Mary Katherine Blakney (maternity) is away. The Bombardiers showed strength in their first matchup, winning 3-0, with three players combining for 11 blocks. After a second-round exit in the Division 1 tournament last season, they look to come back stronger. “They’re really scrappy, go after it, pick up a lot of balls,” Levesque said. “I feel they work well together and communicate well on and off the court. That makes things more successful.” • Teams may dress multiple liberos starting this season, but Canton coach Pat Cawley — whose libero Soley Rodriguez Martinez is the best in the state — does not expect many to take advantage since only one can be on the court at a time. “Soley will not come off the court except for the one time she has to,” Cawley said. “I know a lot of colleges use it, one is better at receiving serve and one is better at serving. In high school I’d think you’d want your best defensive people to be available when you need them. It saves a sub, but it would only be going where your libero would go. In theory, I understand it, but in practice I don’t see it being a big deal.” Matches to watch Friday, Barnstable at No. 14 Duxbury, 5:30 p.m. — Tom Turco’s Red Hawks are 2-0 so far as they look to bounce back from a tough 2025. Duxbury is a strong early test from a fellow Division 2 program. Monday, No. 17 Attleboro at No. 2 Oliver Ames, 5:15 p.m. — Last year’s undefeated Hockomock champ OA only gets to face the Kelley-Rex teams once, and the Bombardiers will look to use their height vs. the shorter Tigers. Wednesday, No. 3 Chelmsford at No. 10 Central Catholic, 5 p.m. — The top two teams in the Merrimack Valley Conference last season face off for the first time with their senior star hitters: Chelmsford’s Kyra Ward and CC’s Julie Hall. Thursday, No. 1 Winchester at No. 4 Newton South, 5:45 p.m. — The Red & Black scheduled a strong slate this year, aided by the Middlesex League only scheduling intraleague matchups once over, and they’ll look to defend their top rank. AJ Traub can be reached at aj.traub@globe.com. Follow him on X @aj_traub and Instagram @ajt37.