As the DVHS womens lacrosse team gears up for the 2025-2026 season, they reflect on last season’s successes and obstacles. Senior Dakshata Kumar, who has been playing on the team for three years, revealed what she thinks the team did well in the previous season.
“We won most of our games, I think we did really well working together and just playing as a unit,” Kumar said.
However, the team also feels that they have a lot to improve upon. Senior Kaelyn Inokuchi is one of the team’s captains this year, and she believes that their offense is an area that can be improved.
“I think [we should work on] just building on our offense and making more plays that we could do on the field,” Inokuchi explained.
Since many new players are joining the team this season, building chemistry is at the forefront of the team’s priorities.
“This year, it’s a lot of new players, so [we have to get] them comfortable with the sport overall and just with the lacrosse logistics and stuff,” Inokuchi said.
Since a lot of new students will be joining the team, the team also hopes to have more team bondings this season, emphasizing a focus on community and trust with one another.
“[One of our goals is] I think just having a little more bondings because I definitely see how some people are less bonded with each other on the team,” Inokuchi said.
One thing the team is looking forward to doing is playing their big rivals this season, Dublin High School. They lost against them last season, and are hoping to come back with a win this season.
“They just have a couple of good shooters, so I think just locking down on them and building up our defense a bit more [is what we plan to do differently when playing them this year],” Inokuchi explained.
Dublin is not the only obstacle the team has predicted to face this season. They also have to get back into their rhythm, following the end of their previous season.
“[An obstacle we expect to face is] getting back into our flow again because we lost members from last year who graduated, and we have new members this year,” Kumar acknowledged. “Both our old members and our new members are really really good, so I guess just finding our new flow with our new members as well.”
Despite these obstacles, the team felt confident that they are going to have an overall successful season because of the team’s closeness.
“Our team is really really sweet, we’re very inclusive, so I think no matter what, we’re a family, I guess, first and foremost, so I think it’ll work out in the end and we’ll win,” Kumar said.
Overall the team is very excited for the season, especially the seniors who are in their last lacrosse season of high school.
“[I’m looking forward to] just playing the sport for maybe the last time of my life,” Inokuchi said. “That’s really sad, but just playing the sport and experimenting with different people on the team, seeing whose chemistry works best.”
