A four-year starter for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team, Rachel Melchiorre completed her career as one of the top players in Golden Eagle history. By the end of her senior season she had set numerous Tech records, including career marks for kills, service aces, total attempts and digs. She was only the fourth player in school history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

Hailing from Hilliard, Ohio, Melchiorre arrived at Tennessee Tech in 1994 and made an immediate impact. As a freshman, she recorded 319 kills and 310 digs, and she was top 10 in the Ohio Valley Conference in both kills per game (2.82) and aces per game (.434). She was also ranked highly in digs per game and hitting percentage. This impressive performance earned Melchiorre a spot on the OVC all-freshman team.

As a sophomore, Melichiorre continued to perform at a high level. In a match against Tennessee State she set a school single-match record with eight service aces, and she set another record with 30 kills in a match against Murray State. On the season, Melchiorre ranked second in the OVC and ninth in the nation in service kills, and she averaged 3.34 kills, 3.50 digs and .645 service aces per game, which all ranked in the Ohio Valley Conference top 10. She was selected to the 1995 all-OVC second team.

In 1996, Melchiorre kept things rolling. Starting all 18 matches for the Golden Eagles, she was among the OVC leaders in kills and service aces, averaging 4.29 kills, 3.33 digs and .490 service aces per game. She averaged 0.23 blocks per game and recorded a hitting percentage of .167.  She was named an all-OVC honorable mention.

As a senior, Melchiorre recorded the best season of her Tennessee Tech career and led Tech to the first NCAA Volleyball Tournament appearance in school history. A team captain, she ranked first in the Ohio Valley Conference in three statistical categories, including kills per game (4.85), digs per game (4.68) and aces per game (0.53). She became the fist Golden Eagle and third player in OVC history to record 500 kills and 500 digs in the same season, setting school single-season records with 592 kills and 571 digs.

She was named OVC Player of the Week five times in 1997, becoming only the second player in league history to win five weekly honors in a single season. She was selected to the OVC all-tournament team and named tournament MVP, and was a first team all-OVC selection. She was also named the Tennessee Tech volleyball team’s Most Valuable Player.

By the end of her playing days in Cookeville, Melchiorre had made her mark in the Tech record books. She set career standards for most kills (1,662), most kills per game (3.80), most attacks (4,453), most service aces (229) and most digs (1,586). In addition, she set single-season records for aces (71) and attacks (1,470). She also became the first Tech player to record 30 kills and 30 digs in a single game.

Melchiorre was not only a star on the floor, but in the classroom as well. Earning a 3.85 grade point average while majoring in secondary education, she was a three-time member of the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll, and was awarded an OVC Academic Medal of Honor in 1997. She was on the Dean’s List every semester of her undergraduate career and twice earned the President’s award. She was also selected to the GTE Academic All-District Team in 1995, 1996 and 1997, and made the GTE Academic All-America team in 1997.