Melo is a presenter at UNL Volleyball Coaches Clinic

                While the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team was competing in a spring tournament at the University of Northern Colorado, Cougar head coach Giovana Melo was at the University of Nebraska Lincoln volleyball coach’s clinic March 30-31.

                Melo, who will begin her fifth year at WNCC next fall, was at Lincoln as a presenter. Melo talked about training players for the libero position while working with three Husker defensive players.

                Melo said this was a great opportunity to showcase WNCC volleyball as well as learn from one of the finest volleyball programs in the nation.

                “It was a great opportunity for our school and program to be a part of such a great and well known clinic, especially in the state of Nebraska,” Melo said. “It was pretty fun. I had fun doing it. I got to work with three Nebraska players.”

                There were 132 coaches in attendance from eight states as well as Canada. The states included Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and Canada. There were also a couple ofv coaches from the Panhandle in attendance.

Melo said she seven talked to former Cougar volleyball player Kathryn Stock’s high school coach from Louisiana.

                The clinic was a 2-day event that featured instruction and information from “The Brazilian Touch,” Serve Reserve Drills, Training 14 & Under, and a run through of Husker training, including first contact, and running a fast tempo offense.

                Melo said she was inspired by Nebraska Coach John Cook’s presentation “Dream Big.”

                “I did get to watch Cook’s session before mine and it was inspiring to watch him talk about the culture of his program and how we have to ‘dream big,’ as he says,” Melo said. “I learn new things every day. I am still a young coach so I feel like it is very important for me and for the program to go speak about us and how we train our kids, especially in such a well-known clinic like Nebraska.”

                Melo will also offer a WNCC Cougar Volleyball Coaches Clinic on Saturday, April 21 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Melo said the Cougar Coaching Clinic will offer hands-on activities as well as coaching experiences and motivation sessions.

                Melo said that she would like to make the Cougar Coaches Clinic highly respected as the Husker one is.

                “I think UNL’s coaching clinic is very well known,” she said. “They do a very good job.”

                For more information on the Cougar Coaches Clinic, visit the WNCC athletic website for a clinic application or email Melo at melog@wncc.net.