The college volleyball season begins Friday for the Umpqua Community College RiverHawks. UCC starts the year with a nonleague home game against Centralia at 4 p.m. on the Winchester campus.

The RiverHawks are hoping to turn things around after back-to-back losing seasons. Last year, the squad finished 12-20 overall and finished sixth in the Northwest Athletic Conference South Region.

UCC returns four sophomores from last year’s roster and brings in a bevy of talent from around Oregon. All but two of the players on this year’s team are from Oregon.

Head coach Lacy Pinard is in her seventh year coaching the program. She will look to McKenna Wilson, Shayla Limatoc and Megan Davis to help lead the team on the floor as captains.

There are five players from Douglas County on the team this year, including Morgan Johnson, Breez Hansen and Katelyn Crawford from Roseburg, Johanna Pope from Glide and Kyla Crume from Days Creek.

After Friday’s season-opener, the RiverHawks will travel to Springfield to take part in the NWAC volleyball showcase on Saturday and Sunday. The event will provide six matches over the two days for UCC.