Volleyball’s Vivian Miller Growing as a Leader, Attends SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council Meeting

OXFORD, Miss. – Leading up to her junior year with Ole Miss Volleyball, Vivian Miller developed an aspiration to serve as a leader not only for her team, but all Rebel student-athletes.

Involved with the Ole Miss' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since her freshman year, Miller's goals came true as she was chosen by the organization to represent the Rebels as a SAAC Leadership Council Rep at the Southeastern Student-Athlete Leadership Council Meeting in Dallas, Texas.

"It was an honor to have been chosen for this responsibility," said Miller. "I love networking and having the opportunity to listen to people who are really cool and want to do anything that can help us succeed as student-athletes."

Miller joined 82 SEC student-athletes including five others from Ole Miss at the meeting where they acted as the voice for their respective athletic departments and advocated for concerns they've noticed in the new era of collegiate sports. The Jupiter, Florida, native also learned different tactics to improve attitudes throughout the Rebel volleyball program.

"We're constantly trying to develop our team culture and something that we as a team have discussed a lot was how we can improve our gameday behaviors and rituals. The medical chief spoke to us about how gameday ritual is really important and has an effect on performance. I took that back to the team and we discussed different ways that we can create rituals both apart and together."

Sitting through multiple informative meetings over the weekend, Miller gained some valuable leadership skills that she plans to bring back to her team.

"Next year after all of our seniors leave, my class will be the seniors and that's weird," said Miller. "I think that having the skills that I developed during this conference, the connections that were developed and the information I learned will help me moving forward."

Not only did Miller build relationships with other SEC student-athletes, she also was able to improve connections with other Rebels who were in attendance.

"I had some really good conversations with JJ Pegues just about NIL, the way they do things at football and really get to know what other sports are doing," said Miller. "Sometimes we're not super connected to other teams, but it's super cool to hang out with them, really talk to them and get to know them."

Miller will always be appreciative of the opportunity to attend the annual SEC meeting and her involvement with SAAC for instilling higher levels of confidence within herself.

"I think SAAC was really great for me to come out of my shell as a freshman," said Miller. "You come in kind of timid, but I was able to join as a freshman and learn from other sports. I was also provided leadership opportunities such as volunteering and meeting a lot of new people higher up in the SEC or just through our athletic department in general."

Miller will use the lessons and experiences she's gained from SAAC to strive to be the best leader she can be, both on and off the court.

For all Ole Miss volleyball's latest news and information, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissVB, on Instagram at @olemissvb and on Facebook at Ole Miss Volleyball. General athletic news can also be found at @OleMissSports on Twitter, Ole Miss Sports on Facebook, and OleMissAthletics on Instagram.

RebelsCalendar

Players Mentioned

Vivian Miller

The University of Mississippi Athletics