It's been too long....

It's been a long time since I last blogged.  I've started some posts but never posted and then more things happened and the drafted posts seemed so outdated.  Here's a run down of the last 6+ months:

My partner Elise Porter, of S.Jordan, and I took 2nd place at the USAV/Rox VB Series 2018 Utah Beach State Championships in the U16 division.  We have played together many times over the last 3 summers and started the 2018 season together with a first place win on May 19th at the AVP First National Qualifier at Wasatch Beach in Murray, UT in the U16 division.  

Here are some videos to a couple tournaments Elise and I played in this summer:

My first beach tournament of the season was on May 12th in St. George, UT where I partnered with Michaeli Barnes to take 2nd place in U18 division of the AAU Beach Qualifier.  Mid-June I took my first trip of the summer to California to play in the “invite only” E-Invitational Beach tournament in Hermosa Beach, CA which is hosted by Olympian Eric Fonoimoana.  

Throughout the summer of 2018, I was successful in obtaining 5  National Championship “bids”. Earning two entry bids to the AAU Beach Junior Olympics in Santa Monica, CA  in the U18 division and one in the U16 division; an entry bid to the USAV National Championship in Siesta Key, FL in the U16 division; and an entry bid to the AVP First National Championship in Hermosa Beach, CA in the U16 division. Each bid was earned with a different partner. Unable to find a partner in time to make travel arrangements for those Championship tourneys, I ended up playing in the AAU Beach National tournament early July in Hermosa Beach, CA with another Utah friend, Rianne Brown, whose partner had canceled last minute.  Here's a video of Rianne & myself playing a tourney in Utah before heading to California.

Earlier this year I became the first Utah high school athlete to train “beach only” throughout the year and did not play high school indoor volleyball last season.  Returning to the indoor volleyball court for a three month stint early winter when my indoor volleyball club, Club GSL in S.Jordan, called and asked me to return as their Defensive Specialist for their top 16s team.  A family situation in April did not allow for me to finish the indoor club season.

This summer Promontory Club allowed me the opportunity to create and run/coach my very own “beach camp” at their Beach House.

Now I am definitely “beach only” going into my high school Junior year. Because I am the only Utah high school athlete dedicated to beach year round, finding a partner willing to travel to California for early season tournaments can be impossible. I will be attending online high school for the next two years so I have more time for training and travel to California for beach tournaments over the winter.

My family was able to take me to one last summer trip to California mid-August and I played in my very first CBVA tournament. I played with a partner I had never met and we were ranked 5th in pool going into the tournament. We ended up taking 2nd in pool and went into the Championship Bracket. We lost in quarterfinals so ended up taking 5th place overall. In the only 2 matches we lost all day, 3 of the 4 opponents were USC commits!

 

I also attended the AVP Manhattan Beach Open and watched some of the world’s best beach volleyball athletes compete.

While I was in California the local paper in Park City, ,UT featured me in an article.  
Here's a link to the Park Record newspaper article: Brianna Miller Takes Second in Utah Beach Volleyball State Championship

I'm super excited to continue my skill development this year and start narrowing down my decision on where I will attend college.


~ Brie