The final meeting of the 2025 Division III boys' volleyball regular season for the Portsmouth High School and Mt. Hope squads had tremendous meaning, as it would likely determine both first place in the final standings as well as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming league championship playoffs.

And it was the host Patriots who reiterated their supremacy over the Huskies to date with a 3-1 win Wednesday night, May 21.

Portsmouth completed a season sweep of Mt. Hope by virtue of its 25-24, 24-26, 25-18 and 25-22 victory. The Patriots previously beat the Huskies, 3-2, in Bristol 16 days earlier.

The win pushed Portsmouth's record to 17-2 overall and 14-0 in the division at the time. For Mt. Hope, the Huskies settled for second place and the No. 2 playoff seed with their 16-3 and 15-3 marks, respectively.

The Patriots still had one more match remaining on their slate, a home contest against eighth-place Davies Tech Thursday night, May 22, and are all but certain to secure the top spot in the league playoff bracket.

Each side will host a quarterfinal round match in the postseason either Wednesday, May 28, or Thursday, May 29.

The final playoff seeds will not become official until the last regular season matches are played Friday, May 23, but Portsmouth and Mt. Hope are locked into the first and second places in some form.

The Huskies took solace in that and in knowing there's a chance to possibly meet the Patriots one more time for the D-III championship.

"I told the boys, no pressure. If we finish first or second we're still home in the first round," Mt. Hope head coach Lisa Lunney said after the Portsmouth match. "Then we need to take care of business. Do our job. We’ve got some work to do, but I have super hardworking boys. We’re working on it."

Against the Pats in their finale, Dylan Shaw paced the Huskies with nine kills. He also added four figs and two blocks. Gianfranco Semerara-Bellanca added seven kills and three blocks. Matt Moran had six kills, three blocks and a pair of digs.