The Mt. Hope High School boys' volleyball completed its trek to back-to-back Division III championships Saturday, June 6, at Rhode Island College, doing so in dominant fashion as the Huskies swept Exeter-West Greenwich in the 2026 title match.

Top-seeded Mt. Hope certainly saved its best performance of the season for its last. The Huskies shook off the Scarlet Knights to win a close opening set, 25-21, then steam-rolled the third seeds the rest the way by the scores of 25-11 and 25-9.

The Huskies finished their spring with a 19-3 overall record and 13-2 against D-III foes. EWG ended up with a 14-4 mark, 11-3 in the league. Two of those losses came to Mt. Hope, which defeated the Knights on the road earlier in the season by a much closer 3-2 score.

"This was pretty impressive. When we went there, they took us to five, and it was like 15-12 in the fifth set. This was us in attack mode," MHHS head coach Lisa Lunney said of the Huskies' effort in the final, adding of EWG, "I think that team is so, so good. They have some really good, good players, like solid players. They're young. They are a force to be reckoned with in the future. But we just kept the pressure on, and I think some of the experience showed through. I think we felt a little bit safer and more comfortable because we were here last year."

The championship was the second in the still rather brief 11-year history of the program, coming after the Huskies had made their first league final a year ago when they defeated Portsmouth in five dramatic sets to claim their initial crown. It's the second title in just the third year for Mt. Hope under the direction of Lunney.

Of what winning consecutive titles says of her program, Lunney said, "It's on the rise. Like I said at the beginning of the season, if you build it, they will come. We're building a program. They're coming, kids are coming out. They're coming out for it. This is fun. I don't know that this area has got much hype around volleyball, so let's bring the hype. These kids certainly deserve it."

Seniors, mostly, led the way for the locals in the final. Co-captain Dylan Shaw had 15 kills and three service aces. Fellow captain Dylan DeOliveira set for 32 points, added 13 digs and three aces. Classmate Jackson Gould had five blocks and eight kills. Sophomore Bradley Harrington added eight kills and two digs.

"It feels so good to go back-to-back. We came into here thinking it was ours. First time we played EWG it was five sets. It was a battle, but we just wanted it more," said DeOliveira, adding of the difference between the championship match and the Huskies' previous meeting with the Knights, "I think it was energy. EWG, when we faced them at their home, they had all the energy, and today, our fans, our players, we all just gelled together, brought everyone up, and our energy was just out of the building."

Just about every Husky who played meaningful minutes in the final — seniors Matt Moran, Dylan White and Arion Ferris along with underclassmen Harrington and Jackson Lopes — contributed to the one-sided win.

"Most of our starting lineup is seniors, and we really just brought our energy, showed the sophomores, juniors, and freshmen what it's about. And hopefully they strive for it next year," DeOliveira added.

Gould helped set the tone in Set 1 with his play at the net. White entered the set late to serve for a key ace. Then Shaw took over late with three kills. And a long rally on set point ended when DeOliveira set Harrington for a back-row kill to seal the Huskies' win in the opener.

As Set 2 progressed EWG looked visibly drained and down. Mt. Hope gradually built a significant edge, reaching double figures for the first time at 17-7 on a Lopes kill. A DeOliveira ace put the locals up 20-7. Shaw followed with another spike before the set ended on consecutive EWG miscues, one passes and the other hitting.

"I think their team was really young, so right at the point when we needed to come together, we came together. And they (EWG) kind of fell apart. But that was forced. We forced their mistakes. My boys came out with the intent to come out in attack mode, never let up, push, push, push, tick with our game plan, attack, attack, attack. And they did that. They were very aggressive. They ran own stuff. I am a proud mama," said Lunney, who gave ample credit for the game-day preparation provided by her assistant coaches Max Riker and Nathan Minese.

The third and final frame followed a similar path. Mt. Hope again went up 17-7 on another DeOliveira ace. A Harrington kill later made the score 23-8 locals. The Knights then made two more errors to account for the last two points of the set, on a pass and then a net violation on match point.

"It feels great. I was part of the team when we won last year, but I was the bench player. I was a freshman And it feels so much better to be a part of the team this time," said Harrington, a sophomore and one of the emerging talents on the MHHS roster. "Volleyball is one of my favorite things in the world, and I'm so glad to be a part of this. I love this team. I love the people on it. I'm so glad I could be a help to it."

Of what he'll take from the seniors who will depart from the program as he becomes a leader next spring, Harrington added, "There's so many people I looked up to this year and last year, and I want to be like they were for the future years. Because I know what it's like to look up to people and I want people to feel that way for me."