I think we play in one of the toughest districts in the state, so it is going to be tough with a young lineup. But I feel like we are learning and starting to gel ... I really think we are starting to find an identity.

Everybody's schedule is tough. I think we have one of the toughest. I don't know if there's another team that plays 17 games in 30 days. But I think the advantage we have built in is we've utilized four lines. We've been a pretty balanced team when it comes to ice time.

For a kid who just got her driver's license, she's tough as nails. She's one of the toughest sophomores I've ever seen. She doesn't get rattled by anything; she loves to pitch and she works hard at it.

It's one of the toughest tournaments in the state. Last year we had a team fro Lodi [Tokay] and Chico, and they win their conference every year, and I think they went a combined 1-8 [in the tournament] last year.

I think our bracket looks, superficially, to me to be the toughest. That and Oakland look very, very tough. We got a fair but very difficult bracket. What it's got is teams that have been there before. And there's something to being there before.

We felt like we might have some growing pains after losing as many guys as we did. But we're starting to work the kinks out ... we reestablished our goals and I think we are getting things back on track.