In just two seasons at the helm of the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team, Giovana Melo has kept the tradition running at a high level from previous coach Chris Green, who is now at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Melo has a 98-7 record heading into the 2009 NJCAA national tournament. She has guided the Cougars to two straight Region IX titles (WNCC has won 11 straight total). In 2009, her first as a head coach, she led the team to a 59-4 record and a third place finish at the national tournament with a thrilling five-set win against Iowa Western Community College. Melo also helped all three sophomores go on to the Division I level to play (Fatima Balza is at Penn State, Nayka Benitez is at Creighton, and Paloma Alvarez is at Western Carolina).

This season, the Cougars are 39-3 and finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the nation. The Cougars captured the Region IX title without dropping a set, including beating No. 20 Northeastern Junior College twice. This year’s team features six sophomores and seven freshmen and they have molded together to form a solid group. All six sophomores have opportunities to go on to play next year at various levels.

It didn’t take long for Melo to get used to WNCC considering it was WNCC where she got her start.

Melo started her collegiate volleyball career has a setter for the Cougar team back in 2001and 2002, earning second team NJCAA All-American honors her freshman year and first team All-American honors her sophomore year. She helped guide the Cougars to an 104-14 record in two seasons, including a third place finish at nationals in 2001.

After WNCC, Melo went on to play for Arizona State University, where she played two seasons, before tearing her ACL in her senior season for the Sun Devils and had to use a red-shirt season. She earned PAC-10 All-Academic honors in 2005.