Braden River High's volleyball team puts rough start in the past

Injuries befall every team at one point or another. For those who lack the depth necessary to adjust, such adversity can cause high hopes to come crashing down.

For the Braden River High girls volleyball team, injuries have not been few and far between.

The players' injuries have included a torn ACL, a torn meniscus, a broken foot and a concussion, all in the early stages of the season. That forced coach Matthew McElhiney to put his athletes at different positions, no matter how steep the learning curve.

“When you lose four players, you have players playing different roles," he said. "It just takes time for them to understand the speed of the game, and the requirements, the expectations, positioning and situations.”

Nearly a month into its fall schedule, the Pirates (7-5) have rebounded from those early-season obstacles. The team dropped three of its opening four matches, but from Sept. 4 through 12, rattled off six victories in a row before losing twice in a tournament Sept. 13.

During the winning streak, Braden River surrendered just one set, outscoring opponents by a commanding 15-1 in combined sets.

“(Coach McElhiney) made it known that he believed in us, and that there was potential for us to definitely finish out those (losing) matches,” said Chloe Pogoda, a senior outside hitter. “Carrying that confidence into our next few games helped us finish those last few points and do what we needed to do to get those wins.”

Entering 2025, the program lost the bulk of its attacking production with the graduations of Baylee Hinkle and Jaliyah Elder. Those two accounted for 238 kills in 2024, per MaxPreps, or 42.8% of the team total.

Rose Reece, who topped the squad with 180 receptions last season, and blocks leader Morgan Beane (42), both graduated as well.

Despite an 8-16 regular season last year, Braden River qualified for the FHSAA Class 5A state tournament thanks to its strength of schedule, and ultimately fell in the regional quarterfinals.

There are reasons for optimism this season.

Senior middle blocker/outside hitter Molly Horalek and Pogoda are back as crucial contributors from last season's team. They had 94 and 87 kills as juniors to rank third and fourth, respectively, among all Pirates.

“On paper coming in, we had a lot of unproven players,” McElhiney said. “With new roles and untested players, I personally wasn’t sure what we were going to look like. The thing that I’ve noticed early on this season is our serving, serve receive and our defense have been really good.” 

Multiple players have embraced playing several rotations, including outside/middle hitter Molly Lynch, the only freshman and one of just two underclassmen on the varsity roster.

Pogoda shifted from a three-rotation front row to a full six rotations for this campaign. Senior Ashlynn Henry, meanwhile, had her role switched from three-rotation back row to six-rotation outside hitter.

Photo by Ryan Kohn

“We’re a less experienced team all the way around, and we’ve lost a lot of seniors, but everyone kind of accepted that challenge and worked together to achieve the common goal,” Pogoda said. “From top to bottom, we knew we needed to be the best we could be.”

After sweeping Manatee in the season opener, Braden River lost to Venice, Port Charlotte and Riverview as the calendar turned from late August to early September. 

The Pirates took host Port Charlotte, the reigning 5A state semifinalist, to a fifth set.

They just couldn’t close it out. 

So when Braden River trailed by 11 points in the second set of its Sept. 8 rivalry match against Lakewood Ranch, the Pirates stayed persistent. 

“We were having those conversations inside the huddle, ‘Hey, we’ve got to close this out. We’ve got to find a way — no matter what — to find a way to get it done,’” McElhiney said. “It was good to have (the players) have that conversation.”

Persistence has paid off in a big way. The squad has nearly matched its win total from all of last season with nine contests still remaining.

The Mustangs were the only opponent to win set from the Pirates during the six-match winning streak, as all five other triumphs were sweeps.

Defeats of St. Petersburg (7-3) and Lakewood Ranch (10-5) were the highlights of the resurgent stretch, with Horalek averaging nearly 10 kills per match.

Pogoda has been a key player as well.

“I've tried my best to keep every ball in the court and just elongate plays,” Pogoda said. “We have a very scrappy team, so I think just extending those rallies has allowed everyone the opportunity to (win points).”

That three-match skid is comfortably behind them.

The Pirates have overcome four lost players — and a losing start — to get where they are now.

Braden River, which was scheduled to play The Out-of-Door Academy on Sept. 16 at the East County Observer's deadline, next hosts Bradenton Christian at 7 p.m. Sept. 18.