MILLER – The Miller Rustlers are back at the State A Volleyball Tournament for the third year in a row, but with a little bit of a different look and different approach.

Miller, 28-1 and the top-seeded team in the field, returns with many new faces.

“It’s quite exciting for this group of girls. Only about half of them were with us since last year, and there’s only two that were with us three years ago,” said Miller coach Linda DeBoer. “So, for Aleah (Schlechter) and Jolie (Palmer), this will be their third state tournament in a row, so that’s quite an accomplishment for those two.”

The others that got to experience the tournament last year have been eager to get back to that spot.

“The ones that were with us last year, you know, got that taste last year, and have just been real eager to up the ante, and go back again,” DeBoer said. “Once you go, you kind of like you want to keep going over and over again. So, they’re really excited to go back.”

A key factor that played into the success of the Rustlers this season was integrating the new players to go along with the returning starters.

“You know they bought in right away. We had set a goal at the beginning of the year that they were going to have a ‘no risk, no reward’ philosophy,” DeBoer said. “A couple things that came with that were trying a little faster offensive system, and just working on the things that we thought we could take from the previous year and reload with new kids. It’s not really a rebuilding year ever in Miller, just kind of, we hope to reload. And that’s what we did this year.”

That “no risk, no reward” philosophy that Miller instilled in the players this year was shown in the team’s strength of schedule that featured five state qualifiers. DeBoer believes that in order to be the best, they have to play the best.

“If you want to be the best that you can be, you have to play the best teams. I’ve always had very supportive and cooperative athletic directors that have helped me accomplish that as we’ve continued to grow in Class A status,” DeBoer said. “It just helps us to play Warner, and Hitchcock-Tulare this year, and to play Mount Vernon-Plankinton, play Winner, these teams that are going to be in the tournament.”

The Rustlers have earned the top seed in the state tournament with just one lone loss, that coming to Warner. Being the overall number one seed does put a little more pressure on the Rustlers, something that DeBoer hopes doesn’t affect her team.

“I think there is a little bit of pressure, just because everyone’s kind of out for you, and there’s a lot of teams in the tournament that we have not seen. But then there are a couple we have played in Class A and Class B,” DeBoer said. “It does come with a little bit of pressure, and maybe a target on your back, but so far, the kids have handled it really, really well.”

Going into the state tournament, the Rustlers will continue to rely on their balanced attack that has been successful all year, as well as their work ethic.

Other key members of the squad include Kate Lichty, Paige Werdel, Gracen Werdel, Kaihlyn Anderberg, and setter Olivia Resel, who had 39 set assists in last week’s SoDak 16 victory.

“I think one of the things that has brought us the most success this entire season has been our balance. We don’t really have that one, go-to hitter that a lot of teams have. Every night that we played, it seemed like we had a different person on the service line be our leader, or a different person show up with either kill efficiency or number of kills,” DeBoer said. “I think my girls train really, really hard. They love being in the gym from 4-6 every day, and they go hard. I think a three-day tournament is something that takes a lot out of these kids, but I think my kids will be ready, and mentally prepared to accept the challenge ahead.”

Miller does have a big challenge ahead in the first round of the tournament. The Rustlers will take on three-time defending state champ Sioux Falls Christian, 22-12 on the year in the opening round at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

“Of course it’s going to be a tough one. We’ve gotten some tape, and we’ve heard some things about them, and that they’re down a little bit this year, but are they really ever down?” DeBoer said. “They’re such a consistent, great program, and Darci (Wassenaar) does a remarkable job with those kids year after year after year. We will definitely have our hands full, but it’s looking like we match up pretty well with them actually; size, offense and defense, and age and experience, so I’m expecting a really good match.”