3rd year as Head Volleyball Coach
Hometown: New Plymouth, Idaho
Colleges: Chicago State University & Idaho State University
Erin Mellinger enters her third season at Dodge City as head volleyball coach taking over the program in the spring of 2023.
In her first season leading the Conquistadors the team posted a 16-17 record and 6-10 in KJCCC action. Year two saw a five win improvement for the Conqs under Coach Mellinger as the team finished 21-14 and went 11-5 in KJCCC play. The Conqs earned a third place finish in the KJCCC the highest since 2010 during the 2024 season.
Eight Conqs have earned KJCCC All-Conference honors in two seasons under Coach Mellinger.
She came to Dodge City with a vast amount of coaching experience, as she has coached at the high school, JUCO, and NAIA levels. Before coming to Dodge City she served as the head volleyball coach at New Plymouth high school in Idaho for two seasons. While she got her coaching career started back in the early 2000s with Sideout USA Volleyball Club and worked as a graduate assistant coach at Chicago State University. She also coached the Boise River Volleyball club and served as an assistant coach at the University of Great Falls.
Her collegiate head coaching career began in 2003 when she became the Head Coach at Independence Community College in the KJCCC. In two seasons leading the Pirates, she posted a 62-21 record won the NJCAA Region IV District K Championship and made an appearance in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament and coached two NJCAA All-Americans. After two seasons at Independence, she took over as Head Coach at a four-year NAIA program, Lewis-Clark State College where she coached two seasons. She then returned to the junior college game and served as an assistant coach at the College of Southern Idaho helping the team over five seasons amass a record of 148-48 with three national tournament appearances, two Region 18 championships, and an NJCAA National Championship in 2009.
In April of 2012, Mellinger returned to the head coaching realm taking over at Blinn College where in three seasons she totaled a record of 104-11 making two NJCAA National Tournament appearances and winning national titles each year in 2013 and 2014. She was named AVCA National Two-Year College Coach of the Year in 2014 and in 2014 and 2013 named AVCA Southwest Region Coach of the Year. She coached the 2014 NJCAA Female Athlete of the Year (Betti Jo Graber) award winner, along with having four All-Americans, 14 All-Region players, six NJCAA All-Tournament players, and two NJCAA All-Tournament MVPs.
After leaving Blinn in May of 2015 and taking a few years off she returned to coaching in 2017 taking over her alma mater Treasure Valley Community College. She helped lead the team to their first NWAC Championship in over a decade in 2019.
Mellinger before her coaching days played at Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon where she was an outside hitter and defensive specialist. She helped the team in 1997 to the program's first appearance in the SWAC (Scenic West Athletic Conference) Tournament in 19 seasons. She finished her playing career at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho where she helped the team win an NAIA Frontier Conference and Region I Tournament title and earn a trip to the NAIA National Tournament. She then transferred to Chicago State University to finish her playing career as a defensive specialist competing in the NCAA Division I Mid-Continent Conference.
The Idaho native earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Chicago State and her Master of Physical Education/Athletic Administration from Idaho State University.
Erin is married to Gary Mellinger and they have three children.
