The Mt. Hope High School boys' volleyball team had a couple of hectic days earlier last week as on back-to-back nights the Huskies suffered their first Division III loss of the year, but then rebounded with shutout victory to quickly return to their winning ways.

In a match between two then-league unbeatens, Mt. Hope dropped a tight 3-2 decision on the road in Portsmouth. The Patriots got the best of the locals by the scores of 31-29, 20-25, 25-16, 22-25 and 15-12. Portsmouth improved to 8-0 in the league standings while the Huskies fell to 8-1.

Nate Fisher led Mt. Hope with 16 kills. He also had 17 digs and two service aces. Rasheed Braddock added 18 digs. Jacob Betres had seven kills, five aces and 13 digs. Dylan DeOliveira had 39 assists, 21 digs and a pair of kills.

"The boys fought hard. We just made more mistakes than Portsmouth. We’re going to clean it up for our next meeting" said MHHS head coach Lisa Lunney, looking ahead to when her Huskies host the Patriots later in the month on May 21. "We did some good things. Our mistakes came at inopportune times in the match. It’s fixable."

The following evening also away from home in Providence, the Huskies answered their initial setback with a 3-0 victory over host Hope. Mt. Hope won by the scores of 27-25, 25-22 and 25-20.

DeOliveira had another terrific outing at setter, assisting on 38 points. He also had 14 digs. Fisher led the way at the net with 12 kills while adding 11 digs. Betres had 13 digs and 10 kills.

For the Blue Wave, which entered the contest in third place behind Portsmouth and the Huskies in the D-III standings, they fell for just the second time in 10 league outings. Hope's only other D-III setback came to the first-place Patriots.

"We pushed through after our rock fight last night," Lunney said after the Hope match, adding Mt. Hope was set to have two more difficult matches during this recent stretch: a date against Division II Toll Gate then a trip to Block Island for a league outing.

"It's a rough week," Lunney said. "We need to push through."

Outdoor track
Another competition yielded another record-breaker effort for Mt. Hope High track and field standout Thea Jackson. This time, the junior bettered her own school outdoor marks in both the 100-meter dash and the long jump.

At the Sgt. Brian St. Germain Invitational held last weekend in West Warwick, Jackson clocked a new 100-meter record in 12.07 seconds and covered 18 feet, 11.5 inches in the long jump. Those winning efforts were part of a three-victory outing for Jackson, who added first place in the triple jump with a leap of 37'8.5." She was also second in the high jump, falling in a jump-off with Nini Olawuyi of Exeter-West Greenwich as each cleared 5'2."

Other results of note for the Huskies on the girls' side included Jessica Deal running fourth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:59. Lola Silva was also fourth in the long jump at 17'1.5." And Kara Pisasale was eighth in the pole vault, clearing 9 feet. From the Mt. Hope boys' team, Alex Watkinson threw a new personal record in the javelin at 105' 6."

In their most recent Eastern Division regular season meet, sweeps of St. Patrick's, Tolman and Shea, some of the highlights included Jackson Cicchinelli's win in the boys' 800 meters with a 2:12.2, Will Southworth's victory in the 1,500 in 5:41.0, Tyler Scarborough's triumph in the 400 in 56.6, Watkinson's win in the jav with a 92'7," Quentin Smith's victories in the shot put with a 34'3" and the hammer with a 110'1" and David Lowney's win in the discus with a 92'5."

In a similar sweep by the girls, which also included Bay View, Deal won the 3,000 in 11:12.7, Jackson took the 200 in 24.6, the long jump at 18'7.5," the triple at 37'4" and the high jump at 5' 2," Pisasale won the 800 in 2:37.6 and pole vault at 8 feet, Kyleigh Durrette won the hammer throw with a 47'9" and the shot at 23'10," Mia Milo won the discus at 62'5" and Hazel Bradley the javelin at 57'4." Also, Deal, Pisasale, Sarah Bissonnette and Julia Pisasale claimed the 4x400 relay in 4:48.8.

Softball
For the first time this spring, the Mt. Hope High School softball team earned consecutive victories, backing up its win over Middletown with a 15-8 decision over Middletown.

Hailey Ferriera paced the Huskies scoring four times and going 4-for-4 at the plate, including a home run in the sixth inning, a run-scoring triple in the fourth inning and singles in both the first and second frames.

Mt. Hope spotted the Islanders a run in the top of the first, then scored two in the bottom of the inning and tacked on four more in the home half of the second. Ava Waddell plated a run with a single in the first while Emily Moran doubled in a run in the second.

Anna VanAmberg (three hits) later added a RBI-single as did Moran. Madison Andrews was the winning pitcher for the locals. Sophia Haberman scored three times and had a pair of hits. Callie DaPonte likewise had two hits and two runs scored.

The Huskies improved to 3-9 overall at the time.