MILLAR TIME FOR U.S. VOLLEYBALL ON A TEAM THAT HAS STRUGGLED RECENTLY, THE PALMDALE PRODUCT LEADS A TALENTED AMERICAN SQUAD THAT'S BENT ON RECLAIMING PAST OLYMPIC GLORY.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer In high school, Ryan Millar proved that they do play volleyball - championship-caliber volleyball - in the desert shrubs of Palmdale. In college, Millar was the catalyst behind an NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association championship run, his school's first. Millar's latest challenge is to rekindle re·kin·dle tr.v. re·kin·dled, re·kin·dling, re·kin·dles 1. To relight (a fire). 2. To revive or renew: rekindled an old interest in the sciences. the past, to help bring America back to the forefront of international volleyball. It's a pedestal the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. began slipping from after winning back-to-back Olympic gold Olympic Gold is the official video game of the XXV Olympic Summer Games, hosted by Barcelona, Spain in 1992. It was released for the Sega consoles, Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System, and Sega's handheld, Game Gear. medals in the 1980s; then crashing to the ground with an unthinkable ninth-place finish at the 1996 Atlanta Games. But Millar is a symbol of USA Volleyball's new attitude. At 22, he's young; at 6-foot-7 and a devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. middle blocker, he's talented; and as a first-time Olympic participant, he's hungry. Millar also knows how dominant his country was on the volleyball scene when he was growing up in Palmdale. That was long before his stellar career at Highland High and his remarkable collegiate success at BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding . ``You think about it and you want to do as well as those guys did. You've got to respect what those guys accomplished,'' Millar said. ``I think if we play well, we're good enough to win the gold,'' added Millar, knowing Cuba, Brazil and Italy are among the favorites. ``Every guy wants to go there and win the gold. If we win a silver or bronze, we'll be happy with that. But if we play as well if we think we can, we can win the gold.'' Millar has reason to feel confident considering what he's achieved, both individually and on the teams he's played for. Highland High has developed into one of the region's premier boys' volleyball programs. Millar led the Bulldogs to the 1994 Southern Section Division II championship match before falling to Royal. Millar admits he ``didn't know what a volleyball was in eighth grade.'' But once he attended Highland, then Bulldogs coach Mike Bird sold Millar on volleyball. Millar appreciated Bird's intensity, his respect for the game and the vision that Highland could compete with the area's traditional volleyball elite. ``It's really not a big volleyball area. But (Highland had) a coach who was a big volleyball guy. He got some of us interested in playing,'' Millar said of Bird, who left the school two years ago. ``We had a team that clicked (in 1994). The more successful Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, beach schools kept saying, 'Who are these guys'? BYU wasn't such a hidden gem when Millar chose to play for the up-and-coming Cougars. He was part of a highly recruited freshman class in 1996. He was one of just five players to earn AVCA AVCA American Volleyball Coaches Association AVCA American Veterinary Chiropractic Association AVCA African Venture Capital Association AVCA Almaden Valley Community Association AVCA Automobil Veteranen Club Austria AVCA Apoyo Vital Cardiopulmonar Avanzado First-Team All-America honors three different times. As a senior, Millar was Volleyball Magazine's national player of the year for the NCAA champions. ``Once we got over that hump, it was like, 'You can go to BYU and win a national title,' '' Millar said. The killer instinct killer instinct n to have the killer instinct → ir a por todas killer instinct n → combativité f; to have the killer instinct → has been lacking in American international volleyball. The Atlanta debacle was the final blow in the steady decline of the U.S. as a world power. Former national-team and gold-medal-winning coach Doug Beal Doug Beal (b. 4 March 1947, Cleveland, Ohio[1]) is an American volleyball player and coach, the current USA Volleyball CEO, and a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. was brought back. Millar is among a group of talented newcomers joining five holdovers from the 1996 Games. ``Going to Sydney is the highest thing you can do in volleyball,'' Millar said. Millar has a lot of things to be excited about after Sydney. Ryan and his wife Suzanne will move to Italy, where Ryan signed a professional contract to play in the Italian Pro League A1 division. It's considered one of the best pro circuits in the world. Despite the impressive portfolio he has already built, Millar's best volleyball might be ahead of him. ``I'm only 22. I still have a lot of years to grow,'' he said. ``I don't think I've scratched my prime yet.'' RYAN MILLAR Age: 22 Residence: Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, city (1990 pop. 281,140), seat of El Paso co., central Colo., on Monument and Fountain creeks, at the foot of Pikes Peak; inc. 1886. It is a year-round resort and a booming military, technological, and commercial city. , Col. College: Brigham Young Past Olympics: None Highlights: Played for Highland High in Palmdale...led BYU to its first NCAA men's volleyball title in 1999...starts at middle blocker for U.S. despite young age. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Ryan Millar has seen plenty of volleyball success at Palmdale High and on the courts at BYU. Special to the Daily News Box: RYAN MILLAR (see text) |
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