Tommi Melton '24 Recruiting Profile

After joining my first club team in fifth grade, I knew volleyball was my thing. When I started playing volleyball, the basic skills just clicked with me. Every summer I do volleyball camps at different colleges which helped me realize I wanted to be just like those talented young women! Playing volleyball in college is my dream because I want to experience that higher level of competition. One of my club volleyball coaches is a current college athlete, and she is one of my role models. She coached us to the best of her ability even though she had never coached before. When I had a question about a play, she would answer it and help me improve my skills.

Being a student-athlete is challenging for some people to manage but for me, it comes naturally. From an academic standpoint, I have experienced online classes, in-person classes, hands-on activities, and many lectures. During school, my complete attention goes to learning the material being taught. I complete assigned tasks on time and to the best of my ability. From an athletic standpoint, I am a hard worker and refuse to give up on anything I do. If any coach asks me to do something, I will work on that task until I am able to accomplish it. Most people give up when drills or the sport gets challenging, but that fuels my desire to pull ahead and give my best effort. Most people will say I am kind-hearted, a hard worker, intelligent, friendly, and a good leader. During sports, I don’t let my competitive nature outweigh my respect for my teammates. I refuse to put anyone down so that I can succeed. In school, I will help anyone if they need help. At home, I am the oldest, so I am used to helping people all the time.

My goals for becoming a college athlete are to become more competitive, build connections with people outside of my home state, and have the accomplishment of juggling volleyball and academics at a higher level. By playing college volleyball I would be able to check another item off my bucket list. Playing at the collegiate level would show my siblings and other people that anything is possible as long as you work hard at it. Many people don’t get the chance to experience college athletics, but when someone does that person becomes a role model for younger people. My final goal would be to influence younger volleyball players and make their dream to play college sports.