Sophomore Stella Cardenas returns for year two as the Lady Devils' varsity net-tender. Owen Yancher/Enterprise photo

The elephant in the room for the Davis High girls lacrosse team heading into the 2020 season is just how do the Lady Devils plan to fill the void at midfield created by graduate Alex Agnew.

A four-year varsity starter, Agnew was the heart-and-soul of the squad, leading the team on draw controls, in scoring and assists. Now suiting up for the UC Davis' women's team, her 64 goals and 46 handouts last spring saw her pass former USC lacrosse star Kylie Drexel on the Devils' all-time assists leaderboard.

Agnew ended her philanthropic DHS career with 155 of those donations to teammates, garnering the 2019 Sacramento Valley Lacrosse Conference Player of the Year distinction along with All-American honors.

So is anyone ready to step up and fill her shoes?

Now entering her 12th season as the Blue Devils' head coach, Jenn Morris says you can't simply swap-and-replace when it comes to a player of Agnew's caliber.

"Her spot is going to be filled by committee," Morris says. "At least early on."

With more than 75 percent of her lineup returning from last season's team, 16 Devils have postseason experience, following last year's 10-11 campaign that saw the Devils fall to Foothill (Pleasanton) in the North Coast Section playoffs. DHS went 5-2 in league play, splitting its pair of matches with rival Oak Ridge and falling twice to Granite Bay.

But with a head coaching change at GBHS and both those schools having bid adieu to stalwart senior goalkeepers (Oak Ridge's Ashley Laing has joined forces with Agnew at UCD), the SVLC has no clear favorite. St. Francis and Christian Brothers also return teams loaded with experienced personnel.

"The nice thing about having returners is that we're able to start so much further ahead of where we were at this time last season," Morris says. "We only have five new faces on the roster, and they're versatile (underclassmen) I knew were ready to play at this level."

Back in saddle are Sophia Young and Colette Quaas, the locals' No. 2 and 3 scorers last spring. The duo netted 29 and 28 goals, respectively. And Meilla Blissett (20 goals), Devon Morris (18) and Amara Higgins (15) return at midfield.

But coach explains it is the Devils' defensive end that has her most excited.

Sophomore Stella Cardenas is back to mind the net with Grace Heringer, Jessie Finkelor, Amanda Berry and a healthy A.J. Zaragoza-Smith set to anchor down the defense in front of her. Davis' top ground ball-getter, Sydney Skinner, also returns to the fold following a playoff run with the DHS girls basketball team.

"Sydney's a really big leader on defense," Morris adds. "She'll be someone who has the ball a lot and she's consistently been a key player.

"I really think we'll see her emerging this junior season."

Offensively, Jillian Watkins, Lauren Lee, Riko Fujishima and Cecily Herget are all back on attack. Ella Herringer, Makena Fix and Alee Holman-Evans will be plug-and-play at midfield. Peyton Schoen and Rosie Mariano add depth to the DHS defense.

Refusing to shy away from a heavyweight out-of-conference schedule, Morris has her squad set to be confronted by some of the Bay Area's toughest schools. San Ramon Valley (March 7), Amador Valley (March 17) and Carondelet (March 18) will each visit DHS, while the Devils will hit the road to take on Justin-Siena (March 5), California High (April 1) and College Park (April 15).

Two of those Devil foes — No. 13 Amador and No. 4 San Ramon Valley — ranked among the Claifornia's best teams in 2019.

"Honestly, I think the schedule we had last season was harder," Morris claims. "But SRV is probably the best team in the section, so that's going to be a real test."

It will be a Las Lomas team that bowed out to Amador in the opening round of the NCS playoffs last May that gets first crack at the Blue Crew. DHS will host the Knights at Brown Stadium on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before Casa Grande (Petaluma) visits town for a 5:30 p.m. clash on Friday.

Notes: Last spring marked the seventh straight season under former George Washington University head coach Morris that the DHS girls have reached the playoffs. Her Devil squads have won 10-or-more ball games in 10 of the previous 11 seasons. … In goal last year, Cardenas made 66 stops, splitting time with Devil keeper Sophie Purves. Skinner's 36 ground balls collected last spring trailed only Agnew, as did her 25 caused turnovers.

—Reach Owen Yancher at [email protected] or follow him via Twitter at @530athletics,

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