Miller volleyball’s quest for back-to-back state championships came up one set short in a five-set loss to Advance on Saturday.
The Lady Cardinals dominated the first set with a 25-11 win. Advance came out and returned the favor in the second set winning it 25-15.
Miller took a 2-1 advantage winning the third set 25-21.
Advance didn’t back down and rolled through the fourth set with a 25-9 win to force the deciding fifth set.
Miller made a strong run early in the fifth set using a 4-0 burst to take a 7-5 advantage. Advance made its big run down one at 9-8. From that point, Advance scored eight of the final 11 points to secure the set and the state championship.
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Serving was key for Advance in the deciding set with four of its final seven points coming on aces. Three of those aces came in a row to go from trailing Miller by one at 9-8 to leading by two at 11-9.
Emberlynn Kingsley led the Miller attack with 14 kills. Just behind her were Ashlynn Helton with 13 kills and Haylie Schnake with 12 kills. Addison Stockton had 45 digs in the match. Schnake was just behind her with 35 digs. Helton and Alyssa Hill each had 24 digs. Lillie Ricketts ran the offense with 22 assists.
Miller concludes its season with an overall record of 31-5-2.
