The 2026 spring season for a handful of Mt. Hope High School squads took place late last week, including the reigning Division III champion boys' volleyball club which opened its league slate with a 3-2 victory on the road over the North Smithfield/Smithfield/Ponaganset co-op.

The Huskies rallied twice for the win by the scores of 17-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-11 and 15-12.

Dylan Shaw led the locals with 13 kills, 13 digs, 12 service receives, two services aces and a block. Bradley Harrington also had 13 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and cleanly received 21 serves. Matt Moran added six kills, five blocks, two digs and an assist.

Boys' lacrosse
The MHHS boys' lacrosse club, runners-up a year in Division III, began its 2026 campaign with a come-from-behind victory on the road over Cranston West, 13-10.

The Huskies trailed the host Falcons, a D-II side, 5-0 at the end of the first quarter, but gradually answered beginning in the second period with a goal from Brayden Vales off an assist by keeper Ethan Labollita then another from Nathan Carpenter to eventually level the score at 5-5 lead.

The locals scored an early goal in the third quarter to break the tie, a Carpenter goal from Aidan Pereira, and never trailed the rest of the way. It was one of five goals in the period for the Huskies, though the Falcons had four themselves to trail by one heading into the final frame, 10-9. In the fourth, Mt. Hope pulled away then held on for the win. Ben Browne, from Charlie Knapman, accounted for the game-winning tally.

Carpenter paced the Huskies with four goals. Browne added a hat-trick and four assists for a team-best seven points. Carpenter had two helpers. Aidan Pereira had two goals and two assists. Vales, Jack Godbout, Emerson Torrey and Knapman each had one goal. Labollita had 14 saves.

"Our defense actually woke up, started playing together and do what supposed to do," said MHHS head coach Jay Spina. "And other thing was our offense was settling for 6-on-6. At the end of the quarter, I told them if we have transition, if you got a layup take it. And once we got into our transition game, they couldn't stop us."

Girls' lacrosse
The MHHS girls' lacrosse contingent dropped its 2026 Division II opener, 12-0, to visiting Cumberland at the Naomi Street Field.

The Clippers, who went 13-3 last spring and earned the No. 2 seed in the league playoffs before losing to eventual champ the Lincoln School in the semifinals, control the contest from the opening faceoff. Cumberland built an insurmountable 9-0 lead by intermission.

MHHS goalies Celia Albritton and Nadia Albritton were credited with one and two saves, respectively, after facing eight and seven shots. Also, Margaret Thorpe won a pair of draws and Maddy Butterworth had a "hustling" performance all around the field, according to head coach Kerri Giarusso.