CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston head volleyball coach Jason Kepner has announced that Melissa Morello, an outside hitter from Fox Point, Wis., will join the Cougars in 2012.
Morello comes to College of Charleston from Nicolet High School where she was an AVCA Under Armor All-America Honorable Mention honoree in her senior season. She was also named the North Shore Conference Player of the Year and selected Wisconsin Volleyball Coaches Association First Team All-State. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named Morello All-Area First Team and the Player of the Year.
The outside hitter has been a First Team All-Conference winner since her freshman year and was Conference Player of the Year in her junior season as well as this past season. She helped lead her club to the US Open Grass Quads U18 and U16 championships in 2010 and 2009.
Not only is Morello valuable at the net, she can play the back line as well as she tallied 485 kills and 480 digs in 2011.
"The entire staff and I are extremely excited to add Melissa to our roster for 2012,” Kepner said. “She has played on a great high school and club team for the last few years and has been able to compete at the highest level. I really feel that experience will help her make a quick transition to the college game. Melissa will add depth to the outside hitter position, and we feel she will have an impact during her freshman year. We all welcome her and her family to the College of Charleston."
Morello has garnered accolades not on the volleyball court, but she has excelled in the classroom as well. She ranks first in her senior class of 288 students as a member of the National Honor Society and the Dean’s List. She is a four-time Nicolet Merit Award Recipient and a three-time Brady Foundation Student Achiever.
Morello will join middle blocker Grace Rebarchak (Mobile, Ala.) and Kari Fidelholtz (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) in the 2012 College of Charleston volleyball signing class.
2012 COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON VOLLEYBALL SIGNEES
Kari Fidelholtz, OH/RS, Marian High School, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Melissa Morello, OH, Nicolet High School, Fox Point, Wisc.
Grace Rebarchak, MB, St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Mobile, Ala.
