By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte Warriors made some noise on the volleyball courts this week, winning back-to-back games to move up the standings and keeping pace with league leaders Eureka.

In what has been an exciting — and unpredictable — Big 5 so far, the Loggers have been the clear frontrunners with four wins in four games.

But the Warriors have been keeping pace since losing to Eureka last week, knocking off Arcata and McKinleyville this week to improve to 2-1.

A victory for the Warriors over Fortuna on Tuesday would set up a huge showdown between them and the Loggers in Crescent City next Thursday, and a game that will go a long way toward deciding this year’s league title.

In other action this week, the Loggers defeated McKinleyville in straight sets at Eureka High on Tuesday, keeping their perfect start to the league campaign in tact.

The Loggers (11-5 overall) will play at the Tamalpais Division-III Tournament on Saturday, where they will match up against the home team and Rancho Cotate.

On Thursday, Arcata got its first league win, defeating Fortuna in three sets at Fortuna.

The Tigers have been competitive despite their disappointing record, pushing both McKinleyville and Eureka to five sets in their opening two losses.

With Thursday’s win, the Tigers improve to 1-3 in the Big 5 and 16-8 overall.

Fortuna is now 1-2 in the Big 5 and 6-11 overall, while McKinleyville dropped to 1-3 and 10-5 with a pair of tough losses this week.