Sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t indicate the entire story.

The Mercer Island volleyball team may have registered a 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-13) victory against the Interlake Saints in the season opener for both teams on Sept. 6, but the contest was much more competitive than the sweep on the scoreboard displayed.

Interlake played Mercer Island tough in the first two sets before the Islanders took control late in each set to win the match. Interlake and Mercer Island were tied at 7-7 at one juncture of the second set.

Mercer Island head coach Susan Rindlaub said Interlake was definitely a challenging opponent.

“Interlake is always very scrappy and they always play well against us,” Rindlaub said. “We usually open our season against them. They played us really well and they tested us. They have some great servers.”

Interlake head coach Eddie Guerrero, who is in his first season as head coach of the program, was impressed with his team’s intensity against a Class 3A volleyball powerhouse. Guerrero previously coached at Overlake School in Redmond and Kentlake High School in Kent.

“Mercer Island is a great program and a great team,” Guerrero said. “This is my first season at the school (Interlake) and we have a whole new system that the team has never played before. I was expecting the girls to compete and do the things that we’ve been working on. I was really excited and happy with what I saw. The outcome was not what we wanted but it was a good learning experience for us. We are going to use what we learned tonight for the rest of the season. We know what we need to work on.”