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He had arranged for a trip to Egypt well before the court ruling against the Michigan High School Athletic Association's appeal of the finding for the Gender Equity group. Which means he won't be there when the Warriors open practice for the 2007 season on Monday, Aug. 13. The first three days will also be used as open tryouts starting at 5:30 p.m.

Junior varsity will go from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and varsity practices from 5:30 p.m. until 8 p.m.

Players are reminded that in order for them to participate in practices they are required to have a physical on file with the high school office, or the coaching staff. They also must have health insurance.

Missing early practice isn't expected to be a problem for Stremlow, though. He's fortunate to have two able and savvy assistants to hold down the fort while he's away.

Filling in for Stremlow while he's gone will be junior varsity coach Susie Greter and varsity assistant Kristina Weidenfeller.

Stremlow expects to return by the day of the Warriors' first tournament.

"I've talked to the kids all summer, and we've had some camps," Stremow said. "They're familiar with what we have to do.

The Warriors return three seniors this year in Dani Orr, Kayla Helsel and Chelsea Snyder. Orr is in her second season with the varsity, while Helsel and Snyder have played three years and are returning starters. But, that's it as far as experience goes.

Orr and Helsel will be team captains. Also serving as a team captain this year will be Molly Lockwood. Lockwood is an outside hitter.

Four sophomores on varsity "We'll be real young this year," Stremlow, who also coaches the girls soccer team, said. "We'll have four sophomores on varsity. But, I think it's going to be one of those teams where everybody could step up and start anytime."

Kathryn Hodges, Chelsea Strine, Cassie Magee and Maize Johnson are the four sophomores on the varsity this season.

Despite their youth and inexperience, Stremlow anticipates the Warriors to get better as the season goes on.

He expects them to be ready for the tournament. Pellston and Onaway appear to be the teams to beat in the Ski Valley Conference.

Central Lake and Mancelona are expected to be improved from a year ago, making for an extremely balanced conference race from top to bottom.

Kingsley, McBain and Traverse City Christian will offer rugged competition outside the league. The summer went pretty well for the Warriors, said Stremlow.

"I thought we had some girls step up, and looked like they can play," the coach said. "They just need more game experience now. And our junior class is pretty solid.

"Most everyone on the team, I think, you'll see be able to start. So, we're going to be pretty deep that way."

Forest Area might not have that superstar hitter in the front row, but the Warriors will be a balanced team, and that should make them competitive against anyone on their schedule.

Junior Allie Garrett could be one of the Warriors' setters in their 6-2 alignment. Lockwood, another junior, also showed a lot of promise in the summer.

Megan Monks has been out all summer with an injury, and is expected to miss all of preseason practice, if not the first couple weeks of the season as well.

"She had a pretty junior varsity season," Stremlow said. "But, being hurt all summer, it's tough to tell how she'll do."

Lauren Kneer, another of the promising juniors, went to summer camp and worked on her passing.

The Warriors should be a fairly close team, and that should help them get over the hurdle of not having game experience.

"I think we'll be ready [to start the season] ... it might just take a little while [to get the game experience]," Stremlow said. "I have patience. I know they [the players] do. "My junior varsity coach has been around these girls, so she's familiar with them."

Forest Area is ready for the season.