Pfeiffer University

Melissa Ferris enters her fifth season at the helm of the Pfeiffer volleyball program in 2022.

Since taking over the Falcon program, she has led the Falcons to marked improvement on the court in each season. 

In her first season at the helm in 2018, her team won nine matches, improving the win total by five from the 2017 season.

In 2019, she guided Pfeiffer to a 14-14 mark, the most program wins in a season since the 2009 season.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 fall season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Falcons finished 5-7 in an abbreviated Spring 2021 season.

In the fall of 2021, Ferris again led the Falcons to their most wins since 2009, finishing with a 19-13 overall record and a 9-9 finish in USA South play.

All told, Ferris owns a 47-52 record as head coach in Misenheimer.

Prior to taking the head job at Pfeiffer, she spent two seasons in the CAA at William & Mary.

In her two seasons at William & Mary, Ferris’ program had back-to-back CAA All-Rookie selections and she coaches Sydney Biniak to consecutive Third Team All-Conference awards. Additionally, the Tribe was named a recipient of the 2016-17 AVCA Team Academic Award which honors programs that maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average

Ferris has almost 20 years of Division I coaching experience, which includes 13 winning seasons and nine years of 20 wins or more.  She was most recently the associate head coach at Rice, where she spent the past 12 years.  Ferris’ time with the Owls was also a success in the classroom, culminating with NCAA APR Public Recognition Awards each of the past two years.  Prior that, she coached at both Wyoming and Texas State.

As the recruiting coordinator for the Owls, Ferris helped put together five nationally-ranked recruiting classes, and as the primary coach for the outside hitters, helped Rice to three NCAA Tournament appearances as well as its first-ever Conference USA title in 2009.  Ferris' mentorship shows in the number of accolades her athletes earned.  At Rice, she had three outside hitters earn All-America honors, and 11 times a hitter earned All-C-USA selection.  In 2004, her first season at Rice, the Owls set all-time program records for hitting percentage (.277) and winning percentage at 25-5 (.833), advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

Before her time at Rice, Ferris spent two years at Wyoming, helping the Cowgirls to a 35-27 record with two hitters earning All-Mountain West Conference honors.  In 2002, Wyoming tallied its first 20-win season since 1989.  Ferris' collegiate coaching career began in 1998 with a four-year stint at Texas State, where the Bobcats averaged 22 wins a season.  In 2000, she helped Texas State to an all-time record season of 29-4 (.879).

Originally from Pinehurst, North Carolina, Ferris played collegiately at Arizona where she still ranks ninth in school history in kills (3.40 per match).  Over her career, she achieved 10+ kills per match 72 times and had 20+ kills on 12 occasions.

Defensively, she stands third on the single-season Blocks Solo list with 45, a feat she achieved in 1993.  She also stands at seventh all-time in solo blocks (88 as of 2022).

She helped the Wildcats reach the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1993 and 1994, finishing with records of 20-11 and 17-10, respectively. 

She also won a silver medal at the 1993 United States Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas.

After earning her bachelor's degree in family studies in 1996, she played professionally in Switzerland, and in the National Volleyball Association in 1996-97. 

Ferris was named to the Pac-10 All-Decade team in 1998 and was inducted into the Pinecrest High School Hall of Fame in 2000.