Fuqua School will field a varsity softball team this season that will look quite familiar to Lady Falcons fans, and the team itself will be looking to build on last year’s state tournament run.

Most members are back from a 2016 Lady Falcons team that went 8-8 and featured only one senior, Taylor Frink. The team secured the No. 3 seed in the state and advanced to the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division III state semifinals before falling 4-3 to No. 2 Kenston Forest School.

Taking over as head coach for LaDonia Mujahid this year is Mike Ford, who has coached travel softball for approximately 15 years and coached at Richard Bland College for a year.

He noted the Lady Falcons are young and talented.

“I’d like to think we could do well, but we’ve got some things to work on,” he said.

It is clear from his expectations that he anticipates that work to get done, though.

“I expect us to go deep into the state playoffs,” he said. “That’s what our goal is.”

Fuqua features two seniors on the roster this year, including shortstop Katie Haney, who is sidelined with a knee injury suffered during basketball season.

She will be missed if she cannot return this spring, but Ford provided a long list of players he is looking to for production, starting with senior first baseman Mary Grace Amos, who he said just committed to Randolph-Macon College.

Ford expects his main pitchers to be junior Sierra Warham, sophomore Regan Ware and junior Hannah-Gray Schmidt, with the main starter still to be determined.

Either Warham or sophomore Virginia Haney will man second base, sophomore Brittany Malone will man third, either Ware or Schmidt may play shortstop and freshman Carmen Reynolds will be catcher.

Outfielders will include junior Alexa Marzloff and sophomores Madelyn Bickford and Grace Hodges.

Fuqua opens the season hosting Westover Christian Academy on Friday at 4 p.m.