File photo – The Fortuna Huskies

The Big 5 is shaping up to be quite a battle on the volleyball courts this fall.

On Tuesday night, the Del Norte Warriors handed the Fortuna Huskies their first loss in conference play and took over sole possession of first place.

The Warriors won in five sets, improving to 3-0 in the Big 5, while the Huskies are now 3-1.

“We let it slip away,” Fortuna head coach Rob Hayes said. “The girls weren’t on top of their game. Del Norte at home, they’re always tough there.”

The two teams will meet again on Oct. 14 in Fortuna in a matchup that could decide the league title, although the other three teams will hope to have a say in that.

The Big 5 teams will close out the first half of league play on Thursday night when Arcata plays at Del Norte and Eureka travels to McKinleyville.

The Arcata girls are also in the mix for a league title, improving to 2-1 with a three-sets victory over Eureka on Tuesday.

Audrey Dart led the way with 11 kills, as the Tigers rallied from a first-set loss to win three straight and take the victory, while teammate Sydney Hasselquist led the way with eight kills and three aces.

Olivia Railsback also had a good night, finishing with seven Kills and eight digs, while Caroline Dieker added eight kills and four blocks.

Rounding out a good all-around team performance, Nora Talty finished with 35 assists and Lily Rust-Kelley had 10 digs.

The Tigers are now 14-5 overall.

Mariah Napoleon continued her impressive season for Eureka — which dropped to 0-3 in the Big 5 — with a team-best 12 kills.

Bridgette Dunn also had a good night for Eureka, finishing with six blocks and three kills, while teammate Aniah Gaither had five kills and three blocks.

Anisha Rechelluul added 16 assists, while the Loggers also had strong serving from Napoleon, Rechelluul, Josie Montana, Pule Footi, Sierra Mendoza and Trinity Abercrombi.

Strong showing for Big 5 teams at Brookings tournament

Arcata, McKinleyville and Fortuna all tied for top spot at the weekend Brookings tournament.

All three of them finished 3-1 at the five-team round-robin tourney, with Arcata beating Fortuna, McKinleyville beating Arcata, and Fortuna defeating Mack.

Chloe Alves had a big tournament for the Panthers, as did teammates Haylee Howell and Maddie Rustin.