BRANFORD -- Mylie Fernandez doesn't remember the specifics of the last huddle she shared with teammates and coaches on the court.
It's easy to empathize. The Bucs had, just minutes earlier, allowed Chipley to go on a 17-4 run to force a winner-take-all fifth set of the Class Rural state championship at the Winter Haven Health Center gym at Polk State College.
Fernandez didn't exactly hear what coach Lachelle Sikes told her team, but she remembers the vibe she requested.
"I remember asking Lachelle to yell at us," Fernandez said. "We were playing so bad, and we needed to get fired up."
The Bucs gave up the first point of the deciding set, then rallied for 15 of the next 23 points to take the match and the gold. Fernandez’s effort was no small part in the victory.
It's an effort that also contributed to Fernandez earning LCR Volleyball Player of the Year honors. The award comes after Fernandez also picked up the 2025 Florida Dairy Farmers Class Rural Volleyball Player of the Year as voted on by a statewide panel of high school volleyball coaches and media representatives.
"I think it's just a testament to how my hard work has shown off throughout the years," Fernandez said. "I think that it shows not only my hard work but the team's hard work."
It's the kind of giving nature Fernandez has been known for on the court. Since coming on as a starter at Columbia High School, she excelled as a setter. She tallied 732 her sophomore season before being limited by injury to fewer sets played on her way to 465 assists and 46 kills her junior year.
But Fernandez needed room to grow. Now 6-feet tall, Fernandez knew coming in as a new face to a team that had made runs at state titles the last two season was going to be a balancing act.
"I think there was a lot of expectations," Fernandez said. "With us coming in, I questioned whether we were going to live up to the expectation. I think us coming into state, we were more fired up to prove to them that we are here, and we are ready."
Meanwhile, Sikes said she knew from Day 1 that Fernandez was a good fit. Having previously coached Fernandez on her club ball team, Sikes said she knew the type of player that was coming in Fernandez.
"I think she showed crazy talented leadership from the moment she stepped foot in the gym," Sikes said. "She was a very 'get-after-it' athlete. I think I was able to set really high expectations of her really early on and kind of told her as our setter on the team I needed her to be the one to hold the team accountable."
Fernandez proved every bit worthy of the hype. She topped her career high with 781 assists on the season. However, she also rounded out her game with more offensive and defensive highlights as well with 136 kills (1.5 per set), 53 aces, 47 blocks and 200 digs.
That versatility was something Sikes experienced during club ball and wanted to capitalize on.
"She set three rotations and was a middle for me three rotations (during club ball), which is a really, really odd rotation to be in," Sikes said. "But because she is 6-feet tall, obviously having her on front row was not even a question. Her block is huge; but then on offense, if she ever gets that first ball or she's not able to get to that second ball, she knows that she's never supposed to remove herself from the play; that she can allow herself to be an option as a hitter."
Any competition facing the Buccaneers this season had a sort of pick-your-poison dilemma: cover any one of Branford's weapons and leave yourself exposed to the others. After all, six different Bucs finished with over 100 kills, with Adriauna Combs and Lalyn Sikes combining to rack up 553 between just them.
It was a problem that nobody ever solved, all the way through a sweep of Williston in the state semifinals. During that match, Fernandez stole several glances toward the visiting stands in Winter Haven. There sat the entire Chipley team that would stand in the way of Branford and its first state volleyball title.
Fernandez quickly got intimidation on her mind.
"We were obviously worried about Williston too, but we were more focused on staring down Chipley and getting in Chipley's head before we even played the game. I feel like after that game, we came off really like, 'OK, we scared them, we're in their heads now. Let's go out there and do it.'"
Fernandez finished with 30 assists, six kills and a pair of aces against Chipley the next day. As she watched junior Anabella Dicks’ kill attempt connect with the hardwood for match point, Fernandez felt the years of preparation paying off.
"This has been a goal for me, and I was just so excited, and I just started bawling on the court," she said. "Winning a state title is one thing, but having this team with you and winning with this team is honestly such an amazing feeling. I feel like it's obviously something I'm never going to forget. But it was just crazy, knowing we did it and knowing my senior year, my last year, I accomplished a goal like winning state. It was just, honestly, amazing."
As for the future, Fernandez is committed to play volleyball at Warner University in Lake Wales. But with family situated in Texas, Fernandez said her ultimate goal is to transfer back to the Lone Star State.
"I'm up there a lot," she said. "We've driven through the campuses. (Texas Christian University) is definitely on my list."
For now though, Fernandez is content with what she's accomplished in just a short time at Branford, even if it comes with the caveat that she can't do it again.
"Coach Lachelle's such an amazing coach, and she really helped me and developed me as a player," Fernandez said. "This year has been outstanding. I look back on it, and I wish we had more time to play together. We all know we don't, but I think that's a sad thing. It was a bittersweet moment where, 'yeah, we won state, but oh, we've got to stop playing now.'
"But I think God has a path, and God has a journey that He wants us to go on. And I feel like every one of us is going to take that path, and we're going to do great things."