Picking up in the playoffs where it ended the regular season, the Mt. Hope High School girls' volleyball team swept Cumberland out of the 2024 Division II championship tournament.

At home Wednesday night, Oct. 30, in front of a raucous crowd inside Fitzgerald Gym, the second-seeded Huskies dispatched the seventh-seeded Clippers in three sets — 25-23, 27-25 and 25-17 — in a quarterfinal round match.

The victory was the 11th in a row for Mt. Hope, which hasn't lost since being similarly swept by the same Cumberland outfit back on September 24. That night, the host Clippers defeated the Huskies in a likewise competitive three games by the scores of 25-20, 25-15, 25-22.

"We needed to play aggressive volleyball and that’s what we did," MHHS head coach Lisa Lunney said. "We came out hard and more importantly than that we figured out how to finish. The first two (sets) were super tight. We needed that first one. They pushed through and figured how to finish."

Mt. Hope improved to 13-6 overall for the fall and advances to the tournament semifinals Thursday night, Nov. 7, against third-seeded Middletown. The contest will be played at Portsmouth High School, the closest neutral venue for the sides, at 7 p.m.

The Islanders were also victorious last Wednesday night, defeating their guest, sixth-seeded Lincoln, by a 3-1 score. Middletown upped its overall record to 12-6.

The Huskies and Islanders have played twice previously this fall, splitting 3-1 decisions. In Middletown the first week of regular season back on September 3, the hosts won by the scores of 25-21, 25-16, 21-25 and 25-10. In Bristol just recently during the last week of the regular season, on October 23, Mt. Hope won 25-12, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-23.

"We’ve both seen each other a couple of times. We know each other. This one’s going to be a battle. It should be a fun one," Lunney said of the upcoming Middletown match.

Back to the Cumberland match, the Clippers weren't only the last team to beat the Huskies this year, they were also the team that ended Mt. Hope's season last fall. Cumberland swept the locals — 25-18, 25-17, 26-24 — in the 2023 D-II tourney semis. The Clippers would next be swept themselves by East Providence — 25-22, 25-15, 25-21 — for the title.

Lunney and the Huskies downplayed any animus or vengeance towards Cumberland from the past. Rather, they remained focus on the present, which was winning their quarterfinal encounter.

"It was more of sending our seniors off with a win for the last game they played on that court as a Husky," Lunney said, referring to last week being the final time the Class of 2025 players on the team would play at home.

As for the winning streak and the mindset of her team at the moment, she added, "We're never over confident, but we believe."

The sense of belief by the Mt. Hope players was palpable, especially in the first two sets which were extremely close.

The Huskies trailed for much of the opener before finally getting back to level at 22-all. Mt. Hope went up 23-22, then the sides traded points before the locals emerged with the 25-23 win.

The second set, as well, stayed even at 17, 22 and 24 apiece before the Huskies were able to close out the victory.

An obviously shaken Cumberland side kept things competitive early in Set 3, but Mt. Hope steadily started to stretch its lead mid-game en route to the eight-point win to complete the shutout.

Sarah Wilcox led the Mt. Hope hitters with eight kills. She added 10 digs. Abigail Allen had seven kills and three blocks. Gianna Lunney led the setting with 17 assists. Mia Hansen led the back row with 13 digs and also had three service aces.

— East Bay Media Group and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Julie Furtado shot the accompanying gallery of photos.