Russ Rose Then (2005): “I thought Melissa flew under the radar screen of the conference coaches last year, as she led the Big Ten conference in blocking and hitting. She improved a great deal throughout the season, and she’s the type of person every coach would want to have in their program. She works hard, is committed to the welfare of the team, and is a marvelous student.”
Russ Rose Now (2025): “Melissa is a great example of a selfless human being, because she was an All-American middle blocker, and after Ari Wilson came in, and transitioned into that starting middle blocker position, the beauty of Mel is she was instrumental in helping Ari Wilson develop. Mel was All Big 10 and All American because she was a terrific blocker and hit for a high percentage — she was a Second Team All American as a sophomore. She was always battling a sore back, but she was durable, and she played hard. At times, she was at the top of our team and the Conference for blocking as well as attacking. But she was somewhat overshadowed by the future Olympians and National Team players like Christa Harmotto and Megan Hodge and Nicole Fawcett. So much of our success was based on the contributions and sacrifices that people like Melissa and others made for the benefit of the team. It’s really hard to find somebody that would go from being an All-American starting player to altering their position on the team. I have a warm spot in my heart for Mel.”
2005 Season (Sophomore) Highlights and Awards: AVCA Second Team All-America … AVCA First Team All-Mideast Region … First Team All-Big Ten … State College NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team … ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District … Academic All-Big Ten … led the team and the Big Ten and ranked 6th in the nation in hitting percentage (.413), which was good for 7th place on Penn State’s single-season record chart.
Season Recap: Started all 34 matches of the year … ranked 2nd on the team in blocks/set with 1.48, good for 13th on Penn State’s single-season record list … in conference-only matches, averaged 2.65 kills per game while hitting .449, more than 50 percentage points higher than the next competitor … posted a league-leading 1.63 blocks per game in Big Ten-only contests … averaged 2.83 blocks/set in the wins over Ohio State and Indiana (11/2, 11/4) … … ranked 4th on the team in kills/set with 2.64 … recorded five or more kills 29 times, including 12 double-digit kill contests … against Pacific (9/9), connected on 12 of 14 attempts to hit .857, marking the first time since 2003 that a Penn State player had hit above .800 with more than 12 kills … recorded at least 1 block in every match of the season, including 26 matches of 3 or more blocks and 14 matches of 5 or more blocks … led the team with 29 service aces … posted a career-high 7 digs twice, recording at least one dig in 33 matches.
NCAA Tournament: Recorded more total blocks (12) than Binghamton and Long Island combined (11) during the first weekend of NCAA play.
Before Penn State: Four-time volleyball letterwinner at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pa. … team captain during senior season for the Falcons … compiled a record of 82-12 during scholastic tenure … member of the Suburban One League championship team in 2000, 2002 and 2003 … team won the district championship in 2003 and was a AAA Pennsylvania state finalist in 2003 for the first time in school history … named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year and a Prepvolleyball.com All-American in 2003 … tabbed as a first team All-State selection in 2002 and 2003 … 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer Player of the Year … two-time Courier Times Player of the Year … named a Volleyball Magazine ‘Fab 50’ selection in 2003 … two-time District One first team selection, Courier Times Golden Team first team and Suburban One League First team … National Honor Society member … member of the high honor roll all four years of high school … named one of Pennsbury High School’s ‘Best and Brightest’ by the Trentonian … received the National Scholar Athlete Award from the U.S. Army Reserve.