Savoy, Ill., native Melissa Emkes was named assistant volleyball coach and recruiting coordinator in July 2010 and is now in her third season with the Braves in 2012. Emkes joined the BU coaching staff after spending the previous year as an assistant coach at Western Illinois.
In her two seasons on The Hilltop, she has helped guide Bradley to an improved conference record in each of her first two seasons with the Braves and the squad's 12-16 overall record in 2011 was the team's best record since finishing the 2005 campaign with a 16-17 mark.
Bradley finished with a 7-6 home record in 2011, marking the team's first winning record at home since 2005 and finished one game away from the team's first State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament appearance since the 2005 season.
In 2011 Rachelle Dejean broke the Bradley career digs record, breaking Jenny Pavlas' previous school record of 1,361 digs which had stood since the 1997 season. In addition, freshman setter Madison Kamp turned in the most double-doubles (8) by a BU player since 2008 and most a Bradley freshman since Marika Giguere had 14 in 2000. Fellow freshman Courtney Keefe was a two-time MVC Freshman of the Week selection.
During Emkes lone season at Western Illinois, 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 in July 2010 and the couple's son John was born in August 2011.