Lauren Miller

Steve Virgen

When Newport Harbor High’s championship hopes are on the line in

girls volleyball, Lauren Miller will have selective memory. She will

forget about the pain in her knee.

Miller, a senior outside hitter for Newport’s volleyball team, has

been battling tendinitis in her knee throughout her final season as a

Sailor. But when the action starts, the pain is gone.

“You definitely don’t feel it during the game, but there is

definitely some soreness afterward,” said Miller, who has been a key

player in the Sailors’ run to the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA

championship match against Mira Costa today at 4:30 p.m. at Cypress

College. “I’m at about 80%. I still hurt, but it’s not like I can’t

play because of it. It’s soreness, but it’s not going to bother me.”

Back in August, the aches in her knee weren’t the only pain she

was experiencing. While her friends and teammates played in a

tournament in Hawaii, Miller watched. The Sailors’ squad is made up

of mostly seniors, eight of them, who made it a strong point for this

season to be their best. In the beginning, Miller sat.

She wanted to be with them, but the pain held her back.

“You don’t get hurt in your senior year,” Miller said. “But I had

to sit out for two months and I knew it would be for the best. It

definitely wasn’t fun. I guess I did learn about the game from a

different view. I’m just glad that I had to sit for two months and I

didn’t have to sit out the whole year. In Hawaii, I really wanted to

play, but at least I could still be there.”

As the season progressed and as the Sailors won the Sea View

League championship, Miller’s knee gained more strength. She began to

rediscover her comfort zone. Last year, Miller played as a middle

blocker mostly, yet she has practiced and competed more as an outside

hitter. This season she was eased into the action as she went back to

outside hitter.

Also, twice a week, she goes to work away from the Sailors. That’s

when she is in physical therapy. Miller’s comeback has also been

aided by the CIF playoffs. It’s time for her to step up. She doesn’t

want her season to end.

Last week, Miller delivered key contributions in three Newport

victories. The Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week produced eight kills,

two aces and two blocks in a three-game win over Villa Park in the

CIF Division II-AA first round Nov. 13.

She also helped lead the Sailors to a three-game victory over

Katella in the second round Nov. 13 and capped the week with 10 kills

and two aces as Newport defeated host El Dorado in four games in the

quarterfinals Nov. 15.

Off the court, Miller also gained success as she finalized her

decision to commit to Baylor University.

“The best thing about her has been that her best volleyball has

been at the end of the season,” Newport Coach Dan Glenn said. “She’s

one of those that plays great at the end of the year and hopefully

she continues to do that. She was our high for kills and aces and she

had a huge match [Tuesday] night.”

Miller continued to show her determination and talent against

Edison in the semifinals Tuesday night. She recorded a team-high 16

kills and four aces, including two which came when she served for

nine straight points in the fourth game of a five-game thrilling

victory for the Sailors.

“My whole thing is that I’m a senior and I have nothing to lose,”

Miller said. “All of us [seniors], we’re giving it all we have and we

don’t want our season to end. We have been working for four years for

this so we might as well give it our all.”

“The main thing is that we are all friends and most of us are all

seniors; it’s our last chance to do what we want to do,” Miller

continued. “It makes us work hard. We all want it. There’s not one

person who wants it more than the other. We all want it just as bad.”

While Miller has had the desire, she has been able to forget about

the pain in her knee. It’s there but when Mira Costa comes to play,

Miller will too.

“It’s hard for her to go full-throttle all the time, but she kind

of saves it for those matches,” Glenn said. “It’s just tough for her.

She was able to do it [Tuesday] night. She really stepped it up.”