Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Thursday night’s game between the Loggers and Panthers at McKinleyville.

By Ray Hamill — The race for the Big 5 championship in volleyball will likely go down to the last night of action.

At the halfway stage of conference play three teams are tied atop the standings after Arcata traveled to Del Norte and knocked off the league-leading Warriors in a rollercoaster of a match on Thursday night.

Both of those teams are now 3-1 in conference, along with Fortuna, which had a bye on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, the McKinleyville Panthers got the better of Eureka for their first conference win.

Nora Talty led the Tigers in Crescent City with 20 assists and eight kills, while teammates Sydney Hasselquist and Olivis Railsback each had six kills.

The visitors took the opening two sets before the home team battled back to force a fifth and deciding frame, which the Tigers edged.

Arcata won 25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 17-25, 17-15.

Lily Rust-Kelley added 11 digs in the win, while Lila Wolf finished with eight digs.

No stats were available for Del Norte.

The match at McKinleyville was equally exciting with several big-time rallies between two evenly-matched teams.

Camryn Pinard was a difference maker for the home team, finishing with seven kills and four aces and contributing in more ways than that.

“Cam stood out last night,” head coach Katherine Rifilato said. “She played really well all the way around and was a powerhouse in the front row.”

Allie Egbert and Haylee Howell each also had a good night in the win.

Egbert finished with eight kills and just one error on 13 attempts, while Howell had four aces and no errors on 10 serves.

A young Loggers team, meanwhile, was led once again by the consistent Mariah Napoleon, who finished with 15 kills.

Anisha Rechelluul had 11 assists and Pule Fonoti had a good night serving, finishing with four aces.

“They played with a lot of heart and never gave up,” Eureka head coach Stephanie Napoleon said.

The Loggers play at Healdsburg on Friday night, before a tournament at El Cerrito on Saturday.