There are great players, there are awful players, and then there are players that are neither, but are just so distinctive they stick with you. Number 9 for your 9th ranked Boilermakers, Amanda Miller and her helmet, qualify firmly in the third category.
Amanda Miller (Redshirt Senior)
Trabuco Canyon, Calif. (Mission Viejo HS)
Defensive Specialist
5’7"
2012 Projection: Backrow Rotation
Amanda came in last year with all the injuries we had on the back row and played in 17 matches. She was very consistent filling in for Carly Cramer in those matches and while she had 1.05 digs per set, she was very good at getting to serves, keeping 94% of her 81 chances in play.
Coming into this year I expect Amanda to play even better than last year. She’s gotten rid of her trademark helmet meaning that all her concussion symptoms are gone and she’s finally recovered on the mental side of things as well.
Amanda played at Libero during the spring game and she is going to start out as one of our mainstays in the back unless Cramer returns at full strength and a freshman or two somehow blows the coaching staff away passes her on the depth chart, and even then I would expect to see her in for serving consistency. And as a side note for those of you disappointed to see the signature helmet go, just remember that this is going to make her a better player and that’s a more than worthy tradeoff.