PEORIA, Ill. -- Savoy, Ill., native Melissa Emkes has been named assistant volleyball coach and recruiting coordinator according to an announcement by Bradley volleyball head coach Sean Burdette Wednesday. Emkes joins the Braves coaching staff after spending the past year as an assistant coach at Western Illinois.
"I am pleased to welcome Melissa to the Braves volleyball program," Burdette said. "She is a great addition to our staff and will hit the ground running as our recruiting coordinator. Melissa is a bright young coach who connects well with recruits and their families. She also will impact our training on the court as she was a very competitive player while at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has had the opportunity to work with and train multiple positions during her time at Illinois and Western Illinois."
In her lone season with the Leathernecks, she served as the team's recruiting coordinator and handled the squad's tape exchange program in addition to overseeing summer camps. Emkes' other duties at Western Illinois also included team travel.
A graduate of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Emkes was a volunteer assistant coach at Illinois during the 2007 and 2008 campaigns. The Illini posted a 42-22 (.656) record in her two seasons in Champaign, capped by a 26-8 record and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2008. Emkes, who recently earned a Masters in Sports Management from Illinois, was responsible for tape exchange and was summer camp coordinator for the Illini.
Emkes was an all-conference selection at Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2006 and also earned Horizon League All-Tournament honors as a senior. During her collegiate career, she helped the Panthers to an 88-28 (.759) overall record, four consecutive Horizon League regular-season championships, a 51-5 (.911) regular-season conference record and one NCAA Tournament appearance (2006).
A marketing major at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Emkes was second on the team in kills with 311 as a senior as she helped her team to a 24-6 overall mark in 2006 and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002. She earned a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman team in 2003, helping UWM to its highest win total since 1999 with a 25-5 record.
The 2002 Champaign News-Gazette All-Area Player of the Year, Emkes was a second-team all-state selection at Champaign Central as a senior. The former Melissa David, she married Kyle Emkes earlier this month.
