Dodge City Community College Women's Volleyball

4th year as Head Volleyball Coach Hometown: New Plymouth, Idaho  Colleges: Chicago State University & Idaho State University    Erin Mellinger enters her fourth 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. In 2025, the third season under Coach Mellinger the Conqs posted just a 16-14 records and 9-7 in KJCCC play finishing fourth in the KJCCC.  Eleven Conqs have earned KJCCC All-Conference honors in three 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.

2nd Year as Assistant Volleyball Coach   Hometown: Waco, Texas College(s): Texas Tech University & East Tennessee University    Reese Rhodes enters her second season as assistant coach for the Dodge City volleyball team.  In year one (2025) Rhodes helped the Conquistadors finish fourth in the KJCCC posting a 9-7 conference record and 16-14 overall record.    Rhodes comes to Dodge City after wrapping up her collegiate playing career at the NCAA Division I level, playing at both Texas Tech University and East Tennessee State University. She played at the setter position for the Red Raiders from 2020 to 2023, seeing action in 88 matches with 272 sets played. As a Red Raider, she amassed 2,012 assists with a 7.4 assists per set average, adding 158 kills, 551 digs, and 114 blocks. After four seasons in Lubbock, Texas, she played her final year of college eligibility at East Tennessee State University for the 2024 season, playing in all 30 matches and recording 1,052 assists for a 9.39 assists per set average, while adding 103 kills, 256 digs, 58 blocks, and 41 aces.    During her playing career, she earned multiple accolades for her play on the court, along with her success in the classroom. In her final season in college at East Tennessee State, she was selected second-team All-Southern Conference and was selected to the SoCon All-Tournament team, while also being selected to the Wildcat Classic All-Tournament team during the season. Rhodes was also successful in the classroom as she earned CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-District honors in 2022 and 2023, while earning academic first-team All-Big 12 in 2021 and 2022.    She served as an assistant coach for the Appalachian Premier Volleyball Academy 14u team during the 2025 season.    Rhodes earned her Bachelor of Science degree in sports management from Texas Tech University and earned her master’s degree in sports management from East Tennessee State University.