Score of Mt. Hope at Portsmouth boys volleyball game on Wednesday May 21, 2025

• Portsmouth’s boys volleyball team is poised to win the Division III championship in their third season.
• The team is undefeated against league opponents and anticipates promotion to Division II next season.
• Senior Sean Wilkey led Portsmouth to victory against rival Mt. Hope with 26 kills, while Jack Loper contributed 44 assists.

PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth boys volleyball is eyeing both a championship and promotion in short order.

The upstart program, in just its third season, is the favorite to win the Division III championship. They should enter the playoffs as the top seed after finishing perfect against league foes. After Wednesday’s 25-23, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22 win vs. Mt. Hope, there’s little reason to think Portsmouth shouldn’t win its first title.

The Patriots were amongst a group of D-III teams last year that could’ve been promoted to the state’s second league. They would’ve held their own in that league with the group of seniors playing in their final regular-season home game of the year against the Huskies.

Sean Wilkey willed Portsmouth to a win in the third set with back-to-back kills for a 20-16 lead that forced a Huskies’ timeout. The senior managed one more kill and won the set with an ace to hand Portsmouth a 2-1 advantage in the match. He finished with 26 kills, four blocks and 35 digs and Jack Loper, another senior, handed out 44 assists with three kills and six digs.

“I feel like playing against [Mt. Hope] is like a fun rivalry,” Wilkey said. “There’s no beef between us, but I feel like it’s a preview of the final. We still have some ways to go, but I think that’s what it is going to be.”

Portsmouth wasn’t promoted after Pawtucket, Central Falls, Juanita Sanchez, Toll Gate and Johnston all found a new home in D-II. The Patriots will likely be moved up next spring and that’s a testament to the program.

“I think returning players is a huge thing because all the guys on the starting line played for their full three years since the program started,” Portsmouth’s Jack Casey said. “I would have loved to be in D-II, hopefully that move comes.”

Said Wilkey: “I feel like coach [Lisa Zabel] is amazing. She does such a good job of bringing up new players. Teaching the freshmen passing and setting, it’s exciting to see.”

The Huskies are the only D-III team that’s given Portsmouth fits this season. Portsmouth lost in five sets to South Kingstown and Westerly, a top program in D-II, in four frames. Mt. Hope pushed them to five frames in the first meeting in Bristol. And had Portsmouth on the ropes in the first frame on Wednesday before the Patriots rattled off three straight points to take the set.

“It’s fun playing against Portsmouth,” Mt. Hope’s Nate Fisher said. “Two of their starters I played in the club season, so that’s really fun to play with them again. It’s just two good teams going at it. It’s just about who has a better mental game at the end of the day.”

The Huskies are currently ranked first in the RPI standings with a win over D-I’s North Smithfield boosting their record. Mt. Hope’s future promotion is equally as deserved with only three set losses to league teams other than Portsmouth.

If the playoffs play to chalk, the June matchup between Portsmouth and Mt. Hope might be the best championship of the three divisions at Rhode Island College.

“I feel like sometimes we dig ourselves into a hole, but we’re one of the teams that can get out of it pretty fast,”Fisher said.

“There’s a lot to work on [before the playoffs], but I think we can figure it out.”