The Mt. Hope High School girls' volleyball team completed a solid 2026 season upon its return to the state's top tier after a years-long stay in Division II after the Huskies lost a Division I tournament preliminary round game on the road in East Providence Monday night, Nov. 2.

The fifth-seeded Townies swept 12th-seeded MHHS, 3-0, by the scores of 25-6, 25-17 and 25-21. East Providence, runners-up for the state title a year ago, advanced to the quarterfinals and a date with fourth-seeded Cumberland Wednesday night, Nov. 5. For the Huskies, their fall ended with a 5-13 overall record.

Against the Townies, the Huskies recorded the first point of the opening set, but the Townies scored 11 of the next 15 points to build a sizable lead and never looked back.

Among the highlights for the Huskies included a Lillian Konz kill and a combo block by Stella Hill and Margaret Thorpe.

Set 2 opened the same way with an EP hitting miscue, but this time the huskies were able to build a lead themselves.

Maya Costa had an ace and Thorp a kill as the locals went up 5-1. The Townies, however, gradually gained control. The score was last tied at 10 on a back row kill by Thorp before the hosts eventually pulled away.

Mt. Hope again was first on the board in the third on yet another Thorp kill. And as they did in the second, the sides played relatively even for a while.

The score was tied for the final time at 8-8 on an EP hitting error, but the hosts went right back on top on an errant MHHS service.

EP eventually pulled ahead with a 9-1 run and stayed in front the rest of way.

The Huskies did trim their deficit to 22-20 late on a Hill kill, a Gianna Soares ace an unreturned Thorp dink. A rare kill by setter Hayden Sylvia made it 24-21 before the Townies closed out the sweep with a kill of their own. 

Sylvia finished with 13 assists, five digs and an ace. Thorp had nine kills and four digs. Hill had five kills and two blocks.