Parker Beh is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Tolleson Union High School for AZPreps365.com.

 

Hannah Milliken grew up living and breathing sports, whether it was out on the golf course, in the gym or out on the diamond, her passion for sports and education has led her to Tolleson Union High School in Tolleson, Arizona.

“When I was very little, I wanted to be an educator,” Hannah said in her classroom numbered room 510. “I never knew what subject. I feel like in high school is when I kind of was solidified in becoming an English teacher just because I loved reading. It's what I really love to do. I love written expressions.”

Hannah teaches juniors in Tolleson’s English department. After short stints at Desert Harbor Elementary, Copper Trails Elementary and Raymond S. Kellis High schools, she found her home at Tolleson in 2022.  

In 2021, after meeting at Glendora High School in Glendora High School, Hannah married Timothy Milliken, a safety representative for the United States Air Force, and the couple moved to Arizona. She said days go by that she doesn’t see him and other days they spend time with each other. 

 “He's been very supportive of my passion and what I like to do, which is to coach,” Hannah said.

The third-year head coach for the Wolverines girls volleyball team finished the 2024-25 season with a 5-15 record, winning its last two out of four matches to end the year. Despite the losing campaign, it marked the first season with a full coaching staff for the team. 

Before coming to Tolleson, Hannah continued her collegiate playing and coaching career in the Golden State. Now, she is on the hunt to bring the team its first winning season since 2019. 

“She's always had that intensity and that drive when she was participating in any sport,” Ted Clarke said, who is Hannah's father. “She was always on the football field or on a wrestling mat or on volleyball court or softball field with her mother.” 

Clarke grew up in California, moving frequently as his father, a Marine, was stationed in different locations. Eventually, he enrolled at California Polytechnic State University, where he played linebacker on the football team and received a scholarship. He later earned a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in kinesiology. Now at 66 years old, he has been coaching primarily football and teaching physical education since 1981. 

Hannah said she and her dad have similar teaching styles, and the same goes for coaching: she reaches out for advice on how to approach certain situations.

“This season, we've been dealing with a lot of adversity. I talked through him a lot about it, where I've asked him, ‘Hey, my players are still working,’” Hannah said. “He [Clarke] goes, ‘This is a building program. As long as you're competing, that's all that matters.’” 

While Clarke provided the blueprint for her coaching background, Hannah's mother, Nancy Clarke, provided her daughter with the necessary skills to play volleyball. This has helped her put herself in a player’s perspective while coaching.  

Clarke played college volleyball at the University of La Verne in California, roughly six miles south of Hannah's high school. 

“Her mom was the hammer, she definitely influenced her,” Clarke said as tears started to fall from his eyes after his wife’s passing in 2012. “I think Hannah got the best from her mom and the worst of me when I coach,” Clarke said with a smile. “I’m gruff and hard nosed.”

Tolleson’s assistant principal who oversees athletics, Ray Perkins, said Hannah is strict but fair as a head coach.

“She’s also very disciplined and gets the most out of her players,” Perkins said. 

Clarke said the third-year head coach is a different person on and off the court.

“I was really surprised, because the Hannah that you see on a court, coaching or as a coach, is completely different than Hannah is at home,” Clarke said. “Hannah's a goofball. And Hannah, you know, she's a mom, she’s got a little daughter.”

Another influential person in Hannah's path to Tolleson was Pasadena City College girls’ volleyball head coach, Mike Terrill, who is in his eighth season in charge of the Lancers with three South Coast Conference titles in 2017, 2018 and 2021. Terrill coached volleyball at Ohio State University, UC Davis and UC San Diego. 

After playing her first two years of college volleyball at Pasadena City College (2015-16), Hannah transferred to play her next two years of eligibility at Pacific Union College (2017-18). When she graduated in 2019, she returned to her roots at Pasadena City College to coach with Terrill.

“A lot of my coaching style is kind of a mixture of my dad and him [Terrill], so I kind of have taken both those styles and seen has what worked,” Hannah said. “Because every group you get in volleyball is different, so some styles might work better with certain groups. Others, you might have to change it up, but both those two really influenced the way I coach.”

With the support of her parents and Terrill, Hannah wants to see continued growth in the Wolverines girls’volleyball program. 

“I hope to see us eventually become a playoff team,” Hannah said, adding that she takes advice from a volleyball coach in the Peoria school district. “I'm kind of following in what her advice was of just starting small, building the culture and building the program we want, because it's not going to happen in a matter of just a few years.”

Perkins said the growth of the Tolleson girls’ volleyball team culture helps if they like being around each other.

“That’s not necessarily the case where you have club players on the team because usually it’s about me and my stats,” Perkins said. “But they really care for each other. They work together as a team.”

For now, the Wolverines are taking steps in the right direction toward building a playoff-level team by having the most club volleyball players on a team in Hannah's tenure. At the end of the day, she still has two sides, too.

“When she coaches, it's different from the Hannah sitting here having lunch with you, and I'm proud of that,” Clarke said. “I love that's where she's at. I love that she's copying what mom and dad did.”