Melissa Machado will be entering her third season on the volleyball coaching staff after an outstanding four-year career at Bridgewater State. Machado, who earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, graduated from BSC in 2006 with an impressive 3.72 grade point average. She was a Dean's List student in each of her eight semesters, and was a member of the Pi Mu Epsilon Honorary National Mathematics Society.  

Athletically, she left her mark on the volleyball court as she was arguably among the best athletes in BSC volleyball history.  Machado was named Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Player of the Week seven times in her distinguished career, including receiving the honor four times in her senior campaign of 2005.  She was also named to the All-MASCAC Volleyball Team in both her junior and senior seasons, and was selected as the conference Player of the Year in 2005, as helped the Bears continue their dominance in the MASCAC.

Bridgewater State captured both the MASCAC regular season and tournament championships, and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament, in each of Melissa's four seasons at BSC.  The Bears also upped their winning streak versus MASCAC opponents to an impressive 102 matches through her senior season.  The streak is now up to 110 matches entering the 2007 campaign.

Melissa wrapped up her career at Bridgewater State as the school's all-time leader in service aces with 305. She is also the only player in Bridgewater volleyball history to record both 1,000 digs and 1,000 kills in a career, as she finished second all-time at BSC in digs with 1,565 and fourth all-time in kills with 1,000.

Melissa presently resides in her hometown of Fairhaven, Massachusetts with her husband, Chris.