Former player and Idaho native Erin Mellinger begins her second year as Lewis-Clark State College's women's volleyball head coach.

Mellinger (formerly Brown) grew up in New Plymouth, ID before attending Treasure Valley C.C. for two years.  She then played one season at LCSC in 1999 as a defensive specialist under former coach Kip Yoshimura, where she helped her team advance to the NAIA national tournament.

In her final year of eligibility Erin transferred to Chicago State University, where she earned the coaches award.  The following year, she served as a graduate assistant coach at Chicago State and then in 2002 was an assistant coach at the University of Great Falls.

In May 2003, she was named head volleyball coach at Independence Community College in Independence, Kan., where she compiled a 22-12 record her first year and a second-place finish in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. In 2004, the team went 40-9 and won the conference, region and district titles and played in the national junior college tournament. She coached two All-Americans, including one that made the all-national tournament team.  For her accomplishments in 2004 Erin was named "Coach of the year".

“I’m a former player at LCSC and one of the main things that attracted me about this job is what the capabilities are,” Mellinger says. “LCSC has a great program and that is where I want to live. I know I was only there for a year but I loved it. I know what the people are like in Lewiston, what the people are like on campus and what a great place it is.”

Mellinger says the biggest challenge is trying to meet the playing and success level of her former coach Yoshimura, who had LCSC competing for a national tournament berth annually.

“This job really means a lot to me and I want to meet the potential that this program has.”