He Put Up ‘The Wall’ for Ventura This Season

In the summer before David Miller’s senior season, Ventura High water polo Coach Joe Abing brought an empty five-gallon water jug to practice. He tossed it into the pool and told Miller, Ventura’s standout goalie, to fill the jug.

Then he told Miller to hold it over his head while treading water.

“At first I thought he was crazy,” Miller said. “I couldn’t do it at first, I had to let some of the water out.”

Gradually, Miller built up his strength. By the end of the season, he could carry the filled jug over his head.

Miller grew into the player who carried Ventura to the Southern Section Division IV final and earned The Times’ Valley/Ventura County player of the year award.

Miller led the Cougars to a 24-6 record that included an 11-5 victory over top-seeded Royal in the Division IV semifinals. He made 261 saves and finished with 681 saves in three varsity years.

Twice he led Ventura to the Division IV championship game, including an 8-7 loss to Santa Barbara on Nov. 22. The Dons rallied to beat Ventura with two goals in the last 23 seconds.

In the semifinal victory over Royal, Miller made 13 saves and shut out the Highlanders in the second half of a game in which Ventura trailed, 5-1.

He made three crucial saves as the Cougars reeled off 10 unanswered goals.

“That was the most thrilling game I’ve ever played in,” Miller said. “It was like a football game. The crowd was amazing. We took momentum and didn’t give it back.”

Abing started calling Miller “The Wall” and changed Ventura’s strategy this season.

“We changed our defensive philosophy to fit around him,” Abing said. “We were able to press more and leave the outside open because we were so confident in him.”

Miller made his mark with strength and smarts. From his days as a pitcher in baseball, he brought a strong and accurate arm into the pool.

He would come out of the goalie box and steal passes. He directed Ventura’s defense and jump-started its fastbreak with his steals and blocks.

“It’s easy to notice a block,” Abing said. “But a steal is just as important. Then he would make some passes where he was like a quarterback dropping back and putting the ball exactly where it needed to be. You’d be saying, ‘No, no, no,’ and he threw it, and a second later it was, ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ ”

Miller, who didn’t take up swimming until his freshman year, used to think playing goalie was as crazy as treading water with a filled jug over your head. Not anymore.

“There’s nothing quite like making a big save,” he said. “It fires your guys up and it stuns the other team. It’s amazing. You can always see it. Your guys seem to start swimming faster. Their guys seem to slow down.”

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The Top 5

Final ranking of boys’ water polo teams from the region:

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RK School (League) Rec. 1 Ventura (Channel) 23-6 2 Royal (Marmonte) 26-4 3 Harvard-Westlake (Mission) 19-6 4 Crescenta Valley (Pacific) 23-5 5 tie, Agoura (Marmonte) 19-9 and Glendale (Pacific) 23-6

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