Lake Forest College Director of Athletics Nicki Pieart announced Friday the addition of Melanie Hughes as the Foresters' new head volleyball coach.

Hughes comes to Lake Forest after spending the last three seasons as the top assistant at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. She helped lead the Athenas to an 87-9 overall record, a 46-2 mark in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, and three regular season and postseason conference titles in as many years on staff. The team also advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in two of those three seasons and reached the regional final in the other.

For her coaching efforts, Hughes was named Division III National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association in 2022.

While overseeing the defense and assisting the head coach in nearly every aspect of the program, Hughes helped develop the 2022 AVCA Division III National Player of the Year, the 2022 and 2023 SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year, the 2023 AVCA West Region Player of the Year, and the 2021 AVCA Division III Freshman of the Year. Those four were among the six CMS players who earned All-American status during her time on staff.

In addition to her role at CMS, Hughes has also been an assistant or head coach for Forza 1 North Volleyball Club since 2018. She has also hosted Nike US Volleyball camps and clinics.

Hughes is a graduate of Western New Mexico University, where she majored in English and racked up more than 1,500 assists and nearly 100 aces during her career on the volleyball team.

"I am excited to have Coach Hughes take over the reins of our volleyball program," began Pieart. "A passionate leader and coach, she is committed to creating an exceptional student-athlete experience for our volleyball student-athletes and supporting our team both on and off the court. Her energy, enthusiasm, and pursuit of competitive excellence were evident during the entire search process and I look forward to the continued growth of the program under her leadership."

"I want to thank Director of Athletics Nicki Pieart and the search committee for giving me this great opportunity," commented Hughes. "I am so excited to be joining the staff at Lake Forest and to get started with the team. I could tell right away that the College was a great fit and the support that has already been shown to me from the staff and campus community just affirms this is where I want to be."

Hughes will officially join the College on March 25.