PROVIDENCE — It took 10 springs and five intense sets for the Mt. Hope High School boys' volleyball team to become a champion.

Saturday night, June 7, at Rhode Island College's Murray Center, the Huskies claimed the program's first-ever league title after defeating Portsmouth, 3-2, to win the Division III tournament.

Top-seeded Mt. Hope trailed for most of the evening, losing the first and third sets, 25-22 and 25-18. But each time, the Huskies responded to square the match, 25-23 and 25-21.

And when it mattered most, in the fifth set, the locals were just a touch better than the second-seeded Patriots, capturing the championship with a 16-14 victory.

Both programs, still in their relative infancies, were making their finals debut. Mt. Hope only began sponsoring the sport in 2014. And Portsmouth was completing just its third season at the varsity level.

The Huskies also avenged their only two losses to a D-III opponent in 2025. The Patriots, who entered the final unbeaten in league play, swept Mt. Hope during the regular season by the scores of 3-2 and 3-1.

The locals, however, were the top seed in the playoffs according to the power points ranking system based on strength of schedule instituted by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League for all sports at the start of the 2024-25 term.

Mt. Hope finished its year 19-3 overall, 17-2 in Division III matches. Portsmouth also finished at 19-3 overall, 15-1 in D-III outings.

"I am so proud of the boys. They never give up, down but never out," said MHHS head coach Lisa Lunney, who led the Huskies to the title in only her second year at the helm of the program. The championship was the third of her career and first as a boys' head coach. Her two previous titles came before the merger as the Bristol High girls' coach.

"They just continued to be patient," she continued. "They worked it around and picked their spots. They played aggressively at the net and played super scrappy defense. Honestly, it was a true team effort. Some of our go-tos had some struggles in spots, others stepped up and then we had some that made mistakes, but came up with huge plays at key times."

Last Saturday night, the teams played a tightly-contested match most expected.

Tied at 17 in Set 1, Portsmouth scored the next three points to take control. The best the Huskies could do the rest of the way was trim just a point off their deficit. The Patriots closed out the win on a Delton Cabral kill down the line.

In Set 2, Portsmouth was seemingly on the precipice of putting one hand firmly on the trophy as the Patriots grabbed the lead mid-way through and held it late before Mt. Hope rallied to tie then pass its opponent.

The Huskies were the steadier of the teams at the end, finally leveling the set at 22 on an Arion Ferris service ace. The locals took their first lead since it was 6-5 on a Portsmouth hitting error. The Pats then evened it, but a Jacob Betres kill gave the Huskies set point and then his counterpart on the left side, Dylan Shaw, finished the Mt. Hope win with a spike of his own.

Possibly rattled, the Patriots showed no signs of concern as they dominated what was the least competitive of the five sets. Portsmouth used a 10-0 run en route to building a 20-9 lead. The Huskies did get to within six twice on kills by Gianfranco Semeraro-Bellanca and Betres, though it wasn't enough and the Pats went back out in front with the third set win.

The fourth set mirrored the second. The score was tied at 17 late. Mt. Hope took the lead after a Portsmouth passing error, then went up by a pair on another Semeraro-Bellanca kill. Consecutive hitting miscues by the Huskies allowed the Patriots to close to within one at 22-21. The locals, though, got kills from Matt Moran and Nate Fisher to reach their second set point, winning the fourth on a Portsmouth hitting mistake.

Lunney's change of Fisher from starting at the libero/back row defender position to an outside hitter role proved one of the pivotal coaching moves of the night. He joined Shaw and Betres on the wings to give the Huskies a response to the Patriots' dynamic twin hitting tandem of Sean Wilkey and John Casey, who dominated the net most of the match.

Of note as well, Rasheed Braddock, whom Lunney switched to the libero position, made some timely contributions the rest of the way in the back of the Mt. Hope formation.

Lunney credited her two assistants, LeeAnn Shaw and Mia Padulla, for the move.

"I was giving up a little offense for a lot of defense with Nate. The intent was to block their big offensive threats or at the very least push them to Nate to dig," said Lunney. "Nate’s swing to the offense moved Dylan to the right, who has proven to be equally effective on either side. I looked at LeeAnn and Mia, and they insisted it was time."

It was Fisher who spurred the Huskies to an early 4-1 lead in the deciding set with a pair of kills and an ace. Portsmouth didn't go away quietly and the fifth eventually was level at 10.

But again, Fisher was the spark. His third kill of the set put Mt. Hope back in front. The Patriots then committed two errors, one hitting and the other a net violation. The Huskies later reached match point for the first time, 14-12, on a Moran block.

Portsmouth, however, got a kill from Wilkie and a Mt. Hope miscue to make things even again at 14 before the Huskies closed out the set, the match and the championship on a Betres kill and a hitting error by the Pats.

"We proved everyone wrong, not ranked in the top 10. Portsmouth ranked above us. They said Portsmouth was going to take us in five, but we proved everyone wrong the entire season," said Braddock.