By Ray Hamill — The Hoopa Warriors are ready to go, according to their head coach, and they expect to be a force in this year’s Little 5 in volleyball.

The Warriors have been busy preparing for the season for much of the past month, but have yet to play a match, with their league and season opener set for Tuesday at home to South Fork.

“We are definitely ready to go,” said head coach Amber McCovey-Billings, who likes a lot of what she’s seen from her players so far. “They’re working really, really hard, and they’re all pretty solid.”

Key to the team’s success this fall will be the play of a talented senior class, which is backed by a nice blend of underclassmen, many of whom already have plenty of varsity experience.

Seniors Savannah Colegrove and Taylor Cole have both impressed early, and are, according to the coach, “good athletes, hard hitters and great blockers.”

Another senior, Deja Coleman, also is expected to play a major role as she returns to the team after not playing as a junior, and she is “working really hard,” according to her coach.

Three other seniors — Rosie Romero, Bethany Masten and Tannah O’Rourke — give the head coach plenty of experienced options and all of them have been leading the way for their younger teammates.

“My senior class is pretty darn solid,” McCovey-Billings said. “They’re showing a lot of leadership.”

Junior Tatianna Colegrove is another good all-around athlete expected to play a major role.

“Honestly, I could say something good about every single player on the team,” said McCovey-Billings, who has a deep roster of 12 players. “They’re scrappy. They don’t give up on anything.”

Twins Diamond and Jewely Bibancos, along with Nae-rew Martin, Nalani Colegrove and Tishawnik Gabriel, round out a very talented junior class that made some noise in league play as sophomores and are all expected to continue to grow.

“I think we’re going to be pretty solid, honestly,” the coach said. “We competed with St. Bernard’s last year, with (mostly) just my sophomores. I think we’ll definitely be in contention.”