Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Hoopa Warriors in action at St. Bernard’s last week.

By Ray Hamill — After barely missing out on the North Coast Section playoffs a year ago, the Hoopa Warriors are hoping to get there this fall.

Especially with a senior-heavy roster of girls that appear determined to close out their high school careers with a bang.

“My girls want to prove they’re a playoff worthy team,” head coach Brittany Moore said.

The Warriors improved to 1-1 in the Little 4 with a straight sets win at South Fork on Tuesday night after opening conference play with a loss at St. Bernard’s last week.

On Thursday night, they’ll try to make it two straight Little 4 victories when they host conference leaders Ferndale.

And Moore is hoping that a tough pre-conference schedule this year will benefit the team down the stretch of the season.

After playing in just two tournaments all of last season, the Hoopa girls have four tournaments on their schedule in 2024, including a recent trip to compete at the Carmichael Invitational in Sacramento where they played schools of more than 2,000 students.

The roster certainly is experienced, with six seniors and seven returning players from last year’s varsity team.

More importably, this is a group of players that have been supporting each other since day of preseason practice.

“No matter who we’re up against — and we’ve played so many big schools — and no matter how they’re doing, I’m seeing them lift each other up on the court,” Moore added. “They scrap for every point. I could not ask for anything more as a coach.”

The team is led by the six seniors, a group that includes Millennia McKindley, Harmony Nelson, Ivy Lamebear, Annie Lanning, Julie Lanning and Natalia Flores.

Sophomore Maggie Morris, a talented all-around athlete, also is back from last year’s varsity team, while juniors Queen Tracy and Rikki Lipscomb and sophomore Wau’Kel Blake round out the roster after moving up from last year’s JV team.

On Tuesday, the Warriors defeated South Fork 25-12, 25-11, 25-21.

Morris and Annie Lanning each finished with a team-high nine kills, while Blake added a team-best four aces.

Defensively, Flores led the way with eight digs, while Morris and Annie Lanning had five digs each.

Nelson dished out an impressive 29 assists.

Moore and her players are hoping the victory can kickstart a good run for the team in conference play.

“I think my girls have a lot of potential to get better as we go through league,” the coach said.