“We did lose some pretty important seniors last season so we’ve had to come back from that loss but I think that there’s a lot of people that are going to be stepping up,” co-captain Abbey Kinnaman (‘13) said.

Driver, Tara Lawrence (‘14) agrees with Kinnaman and is excited to integrate the new players into the team.

“We have a new freshman named Katie Francis who is wicked fast,” Lawrence said. “It’s fun to see fresh meat and to know that I’ll be able to play with them next year.”

With Francis and other rising stars, the team is hoping to pull out some wins against rivals Gunn and Los Altos. Last year, the girls fell to Los Altos in the quarterfinals of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) tournament.

In order to advance further this year, captains Kinnaman and Martine LeClerc (‘13) have been working to incorporate the team’s new players.

“We have great captains this year. They’re really supportive and insightful,” Lawrence said.

Led by Kinnaman and LeClerc, the girls have been focusing on boosting their speed and refining their ball skills over the past two weeks.

“We’ve been working on a lot of swimming and conditioning to be stronger than the other teams,” Kinnaman said. “We’ve been focusing on strategy as well.”
With talented new players and committed returning starters, the team demonstrates potential for a strong season. The Lady Vikes will face off against Homestead on Tuesday Sept. 11th.