Maria Jensen Miller is one of only four Blugolds who has earned American Volleyball Coaches Association first team All-America honors. She did that in 1997 when she led the Blugolds to a 32-6 overall record and a 7-1 conference mark. The Blugolds advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III playoffs that year.

Miller set school single season records for kills (581) and total attacks (1,329) while setting a match record for service aces (9). She still ranks among the top five in career kills (4th-1,408), career total attacks (3rd-3,469) and career digs (3rd-1,561). She is also in the top 10 in career service aces (8th-167).

Besides her All-American recognition, she was a three-time All-Conference first team pick and a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in 1996.

Miller was a sprinter and jumper on the Blugold track team, earning three letters. She still holds the school 600-meter indoor record. She competed in the Drake Relays twice and was an NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor national qualifier in both 1996 and 1997.

A math major at UWEC, Miller is a math teacher for Twin Cities Academy High School in St. Paul. She also tutors for Sylvan Learning Center in Hudson. She obtained her math teaching certification from UW-River Falls last December. Since her UWEC graduation, she has coached track at Notre Dame Middle School and volleyball at McDonell High School in Chippewa Falls and at Lone Rock Middle School in Stevensville, Montana. She also coached the JV2 volleyball team at Hudson for four years and a club team for two years.

Miller was inducted into the Eau Claire Regis High School Hall of Fame in 2008.

She and her husband Pete, an environmental health specialist for Ramsey County in Minnesota, are the parents of two children: Cy, age 11; and Karina, age 8. They reside in Hudson.

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