The Mt. Hope High School boys' volleyball team met the middle of its 2025 regular season in recent days much in the same way Huskies have gone about their business so far this spring, with wins.

Mt. Hope saw its run of shutouts come to a close, but the Huskies managed to defeat Exeter-West Greenwich 3-1 for their ninth victory of the year.

The very next night, Mt. Hope got right back its sweeping forming, bettering host St. Raphael 3-0 in Pawtucket to improve to 10-1 overall and 8-0 in Division III action at the time.

However, the locals tasted a bit of adversity over the same span with the loss of one of their top contributors to injury as junior middle hitter Jackson Gould suffered what is likely a season-ending leg issue.

"We're regrouping after we lost one of our middies to injury. It's going to be a little tougher," said MHHS head coach Lisa Lunney of Gould's ailment, which occurred during the Huskies' win over Davies at the start of last week.

"It's time for some other kids to step up. That's the test of a true team. Let's see how we manage this," she added.

The rest of the Mt. Hope roster showed in the short term at the very least they were capable of dealing with some difficulty.

Against the Scarlet Knights at home, the Huskies won the first two games by scores of 25-19 and 25-11 before the visitors got the third set, 28-26. The locals then closed out the contest with a 25-18 win in set four.

Dylan DeOliveira had a superb all-court night for Mt. Hope. The Huskies' setter had 43 assists while digging 12 shots, serving four aces and chipping in a pair of kills.

Gianfranco Semeraro-Bellanca led the locals with 10 kills and also had four blocks. Matt Moran was right behind with nine kills, three blocks and four digs.

On the road versus the Saints, the Huskies won the opening set 25-16. Mt. Hope never trailed after Nathan Fisher led the locals to a three-point run with scored level at 12. Fisher had a dink, a kill off a block and served for an ace to open up a working advantage. Jacob Betres then finished off the win with a pair of aces.

Game 2 went the way of the Huskies, 25-13. Again the locals took the lead for what proved keeps, 3-2, on a Saints' service error. Fisher was again at the fore, serving during a six-point run as Mt. Hope took control. Moran had a couple of blocks during the spree on a point put down by Betres kill.

The third set was the closest of the three. The locals trailed 17-16 late before Semeraro-Bellanca got the Huskies even with a spike. Mt. Hope once more went ahead for good, eventually finishing off the game and the match on a Betres kill and one from Dylan Shaw on set-point.

Betres finished with nine kills, eight digs and four aces. Fisher had eight kills, served for six aces and had five digs. Semeraro-Bellanca had six kills and three blocks.

Looking ahead, the Huskies have what are likely a handful of games against some of the other top teams in D-III on the second half of their schedule, including two matches against fellow league unbeaten Portsmouth and another against one loss Hope.

Of how her team will respond to the line-uo changes the rest of the way, Lunney said, "It's difficult in volleyball. When a crew starts to gel, they know who has what and who's on your right or left. We're adjusting and the kids are stepping up. We have some big games coming up. We need to pull together and do some work."