Miller to be inducted in OHSVCA Hall of Fame

The Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association will induct recently retired St. Paul head coach Nancy Miller, the association announced on April 5. The Hall of Fame ceremony will be part of a day-long coaches clinic from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Westerville South High School. The HOF portion of the day will be held from 1-2 p.m. Jen Flynn Oldenburg, the head coach at Ohio State University, will be presenting at the clinic. Also presenting will be Tyson Gentry, the former Norwalk and Perkins native who was paralyzed in an OSU spring game in April 2006. Gentry will be speaking on resiliency, hope and mental toughness in sports. Monica Wright from Otterbein will also be presenting. In 31 seasons, Miller's teams finished 619-158 overall, good for a .796 winning percentage. Miller enters the HOF as unofficially one of just 12 coaches in OHSAA history with 600-plus wins. That total will enter the upcoming 2024 season ranked ninth all-time on the wins list. Throughout her career, Miller led her teams to 19 Firelands Conference championships. In the Division IV tournament, the Lady Flyers won 29 sectional championships in her 31 seasons. Miller's teams also won seven district championships (2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016), three regional runners-up trophies (2010, 2011, 2016), four regional championships (2002, 2006, 2007, 2009), two state runners-up trophies (2007, 2009) and two state championships (2002, 2006). She was voted the FC Coach of the Year 15 times, the District 6 COY 10 times, and the OHSVCA Div. IV COY twice. Miller was also an OHSVCA coaches achievement award recipient three times. After taking over as head coach at St. Paul in 1989, Miller's team broke through with an FC title for the first time during her tenure in 1993. That team went 18-4 overall and a perfect 14-0 in the FC. The Lady Flyers added conference titles in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001 — with sectional championships from 1990-94 and 1996-2001. However, one key step in the tournament trail was missing. St. Paul kept coming up short in the district round — including several district title losses against Buckeye Central. That all changed in 2002 when a loaded St. Paul team steamrolled its way through the regular season, and eventually the program's first district and regional championships. After a dominating state semifinal win over Old Fort, the Lady Flyers broke through with a dramatic three-set win — pre-rally scoring — over Maria Stein Marion Local to win the Div. IV state title with a perfect 29-0 record. "Everything changed after that," Miller said. "From not only the expectations, but the desire of the kids. They see the messages on the wall, and the trophies and team photos — suddenly it became real." After the state title, Miller "went out on top" and stepped down as coach. Both her sons, Zack and Hayden, were at an age where they were very active in youth sports and other activities. After Bill Cramer coached St. Paul from 2003-05 with three more FC and district titles, and two trips to state, Miller returned to the helm in 2006. St. Paul then continued a run that ultimately totaled six state appearances in eight years by winning the Div. IV state title once again in 2006/ It topped New Knoxville in four sets. The Lady Flyers lost to Marion Local in the state title match in 2007 and 2009. They reached the regional title match in 2010, 2011 and 2016. During that dominant stretch that started at the turn of the millennium, St. Paul also had a run of 75 consecutive FC wins, and more than 100 straight FC wins at home. While proud of the championships and sustained success, Miller also pointed to how much her players and their families bought into the program. "It wasn't a powerhouse program yet at that level," she said. "Establishing that, it took a while. It wasn't like it was a couple years with a great class and it was there. We waited 13 years to win our first district title, which followed with regional and state. "I still think back to the support the girls received from their families," she added. "We'd have matches with 95 or 100 percent of their parents in the stands, and there were also others there watching, family and friends." Miller is currently a lifetime member of the OHSVCA, where she has been active for all 31 years. She has served her local District 6 association as treasurer since 2013. She helps organize and manage the annual district All-Star event each year. She has coached within the Northshore Volleyball Club for 27 years, and will continue to do so in retirement. Miller is a high school mathematics teacher at St. Paul and was awarded National Board certification in 2007. Miller was born in Norwalk to parents Skip and Doris Howell. She graduated from Monroeville and Muskingum College, where she was a 1986 Academic All-American. Her immediate family includes her husband, Tom, sons Zack and Hayden, and their wives Krista and Katie. Grandchildren include Maverick and Reagan, and Halston and Kinsley.