- July 15, 2025
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Sarasota County has produced some of the state’s best volleyball over the past decade.
Cardinal Mooney, Riverview and Venice high schools have each made it to the final four in the past 10 years, with the Cougars (one) and Indians (two) bringing home state championships.
Sarasota High, however, could not tap into that local success. The Sailors haven’t made it to the regional round of postseason play since 2015 and have never played in a regional final.
New Sarasota volleyball Head Coach Emma Thrift hopes to change that.
Thrift knows Sarasota volleyball better than most.
She played both indoor and beach volleyball at Riverview and has coached with Sarasota Volleyball Club — an AAU and travel organization — since she was a senior in high school.
After routinely beating the Sailors in her high school days, the challenge of going to the rival excites Thrift.
“It’s exciting to be on the other side,” Thrift said. “It fuels the fire a little bit more. It feels like I have something to prove.”
In the Sailors' 10-11 season, Riverview eliminated Sarasota in its first district tournament game.
That leaves plenty of room for improvement, but Thrift is focusing more on the intangibles than the record.
“Success for me this season would be building a solid culture and foundation,” Thrift said. “It’s not about winning, winning, winning. It’s about having them grow. Even if they lose, I want it to be five sets, close games, extra points every time. I don’t want it to be a 3-0 sweep. I would still count that as a win. Set wins are wins to me. When we see that growth in the season, that will set us up really well in the long term.”
Thrift, 23, graduated from Florida State University in 2024, but isn’t inexperienced in coaching.
She has coached with Sarasota Volleyball Club, SRQ Beach Volleyball and The Classical Academy of Sarasota.
However, she is well aware she will be one of the youngest head varsity coaches in the state this season, and she’s planning on using that to her advantage.
“I try to relate to them a little more because they’re still in high school,” Thrift said. “They’re going through the hardest part of their life right now. I feel like a lot of coaches as they get older kind of dismiss that, whereas I was more recently in their shoes. They want to feel respected and feel like they’re being heard, and I feel like I’m able to communicate that with them.”
Despite Sarasota’s record and postseason result last year, Thrift should have some talent to work with this fall.
Kills leader Liza Collier, a rising junior, is set to enter her junior season while Braelynn Rebholz, third in kills, will be a senior.
Blocks leader Gemma Mulhollen is entering her junior season and ace leader Rylan Miller will be a senior.
<The work for next season has already begun.
Thrift held her first summer workout on June 9 at the school, and said roughly 50 players — including freshman, junior varsity and varsity — showed up, with more expected to come later in the summer.
June will focus on building stamina and mental strength. Thrift intends on the Sailors playing deep into matches, which will require fortitude. That means cardio work on the track, high-repetition weightlifting and time on the court.
Perhaps more important than strength and conditioning will be creating a team-first culture. Thrift said she can’t remember the players who were on the freshman and junior varsity teams when she was a varsity player.
Instead, she wants an all-inclusive environment to encourage players to stay with the team through graduation.
“What I really want to build right now is good culture,” Thrift said. “I want this team to be one unit. I don’t want freshman, JV, varsity. I want Sarasota volleyball. I feel like it didn’t really build a positive culture, and I want longevity.
“I know they can be great. I just need them to understand that they can be great as well.”
