Thea Jackson scored a hat trick as the Mt. Hope girls soccer team soundly defeated South Kingstown 4-0 in the Division I quarterfinals at the high school on Friday night. 

Jackson, the Huskies’ sophomore striker, netted three goals and freshman forward Sara Nencka scored 1 for Mt. Hope, who boosted their overall record to 8-5-4.

“The girls played tough and hard until the very end,” said Huskies’ head coach Kerri Giarrusso. “We missed some  chances early on, but it led to more motivation and perseverance from the team as a whole. They played together and for each other and got the win.”

Junior goalkeeper Emily Moran made 10 save as the Huskies backline of Maddy Butterworth, Emma Goglia, Elise Lanoie, and Aubrey Cummings stifled the South Kingstown attack. 

Earlier this season, senior co-captain Hannah Rezendes said that the team had a good chance to win the championship. The Huskies will play 8-7-3 Chariho in the semifinals game at RIC on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. and then the winner will take on either 9-7-1 North Kingstown or 14-0-2 Cumberland in the championship. 

“I couldn't have asked for anything more of them,” said Coach Giarrusso. “When you score 4 goals and allow none in a playoff game, it shows how focused we were, both offensively and defensively.” 

Volleyball team edges Bay View 3-2, moves on to semis

The Mt. Hope volleyball team edged St. Mary’s Academy Bay View 3-2 (25-13, 25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 15-13) in the Division II quarterfinals in a home marathon match on Friday.

“Like we’ve done all season, we gritted it out and finished in an absolute fight to the end,” said Mt. Hope head coach Lisa Lunney. 

Senior captain and setter Mia Shaw played well, all over the court with 11 kills, 32 assists and 16 digs defensively. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Wilcox made 10 kills, 15 digs and had 5 aces. Senior outside hitter Grace Gerhard tallied 11 kills and 3 aces.  Junior libero Mia Hanson tallied 14 digs and 3 aces and junior inside hitter Abby Allen made 5 blocks. 

“The girls started the first two sets in control, with very aggressive play, especially serving and on defense. I need to give tons of credit to BayView. They turned it up and we started to play safe volleyball. They played a great match.”

The 15-3 Huskies will face 15-3 Cumberland at North Kingstown in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The winner will take on the winner of East Providence and Barrington in the final on Saturday.