PORTSMOUTH — After starting its inaugural season at 0-5, the Portsmouth High School varsity boys’ volleyball team notched its first win Tuesday night in a thriller over St. Raphael Academy at home in the field house.

The Patriots won the first two sets, 25-17 and 26-19, but the Saints came storming back to take the next two by scores of 14-25 and 21-25.

A 15-point deciding fifth set was played to determine the winner, and Portsmouth came out on top, 15-12.

The Patriots were scheduled to play the Times2/Paul Cuffee/St. Pats co-op team at home on Wednesday, March 3, and then Juanita Sanchez Complex on Friday, May 5, at 6 p.m.

After that they’ll hit the road to face North Providence on Monday, May 8, before returning home for a contest against Mt. Pleasant on Thursday, May 11.

Last year a group of PHS boys, not content with playing on a club team, requested that boys’ volleyball be a competitive sport at the school under the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL). The school has had a successful girls’ volleyball program for years.

Following a presentation in October 2022 by Bob Murray, interim athletic director, the School Committee gave the go-ahead, with the boys agreeing to raise start-up costs themselves to get the program off the ground.