In his first official year as the head coach of the Heart River volleyball team, Scott Miller earned the honor of being named Coach of the Year for the 2020 season.
After being the assistant coach of the Dickinson High Midgets for over two decades, Miller opted to become the new head coach for the Cougars volleyball team. In just his first season with the volleyball team, the Cougars are 10-1 in conference, 16-3 overall, were placed second in the Class B Region 7 tournament and are set to host Hettinger-Scranton in the semifinals on Thursday.
"I appreciate the coaches giving me that kind of amount of respect," Miller said. "There are a lot of good coaches in the region. It’s kind of nice getting recognition from your peers."
Miller said all the recognition goes toward the athletes who helped him earn the award with consistent hard work and success throughout the season.
"They bought into whatever I ask them to do and they believed in it, so most of the credit goes to them," he said. " They believed in the defense that I talked about and they worked hard at doing it. We’re pretty successful with it. Every night is new, so we got to keep working at it hard."
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Along with Miller being named Coach of the Year, three of his athletes were named to the All-Region 7 - Top 15 team in senior libero Campbell Clarys, junior outside hitter/setter Meg Silbernagel and junior middle hitter Taylar Fagerberg.
Miller discussed what made the three players so unique to the Cougars' roster.
"Campbell is really a good leader for us; she’s our captain. She kind of sparks the defense and keeps balls alive," he said. "With (Fagerberg) being in the middle, trying to take a part of the floor with her blocking and being a force, and when she gets her serve going it kind of helps us out too. She kind of gives us some momentum. And Silbernagel, she’s just a hard worker all-around great player. She can do it all."
While Miller was proud of all three of his athletes and their achievements, he added the team would not have had the success it has been able to have without the entire team's effort.
"We had a lot of other girls that helped us be successful too," he said. "Jerzi Kukowski, Caylee Wilke, Madison Bebee — our center — she's the leader of our offense and plays great defense. Jordan Buckman, especially Shalee Praus, she does a lot of great things for us."
Currently, the Cougars are getting prepared for their upcoming matchup against the Night Hawks, and potentially playing the winner of No. 1 Trinity and No. 5 Beulah for the championship and the chance of playing in the NDHSAA State Tournament.
"We’re going to have to be at our best. We’re going to have to do the things we’ve been doing, only a little bit better," he said.
The Cougars are set to take on the Night Hawks at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
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THE ALL-REGION 7 ROSTER (In alphabetical order)
Alyvia Braden - Beach
Sadie McGraw - Beulah
Kinsey Zuroff - Beulah
Ellie Powell - Bowman County
Amaya Willer - Dickinson Trinity
Asia Willer - Dickinson Trinity
Kali Kubas - Dickinson Trinity
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Abbey Kubas - Dickinson Trinity
Paige Erhardt - Hazen
Campbell Clarys - Heart River
Meg Silbernagel - Heart River
Taylar Fagerberg - Heart River
Sam Oase - Hettinger-Scranton
Myranda Reiss - Killdeer
Jersey Binstock - New England
Senior Athlete of the Year: Amaya Willer - Dickinson Trinity
Coach of the Year: Scott Miller - Heart River
