It’s often a challenge to be able to make an immediate impact on a team, but second-year McKenna Melton has done just that in her first season with the University of Rhode Island women’s volleyball team.
Coming from out of state and transitioning to a new team can be challenging for many players. As a transfer student from Marshall University, Melton has found a new home with the Rams.
“This team has been super supportive to me,” Melton said. “It’s been a really good environment, and you can tell that there’s a lot of heart, and we all love each other.”
With the support system of the team around her, there’s no question that Melton’s ceiling is high when it comes to her individual success within the program. Since the beginning of this season, she’s ranked third on the team in kills with 47, second in kills per set with 1.96 and third in aces with five.
Although Melton’s stats speak for themselves, the team’s record shows that URI still has some holes in its puzzle. With the Rams dropping to 2-8 on the season with a tough loss against Northwestern University on Monday, Melton is trying to make the most out of every situation, no matter the outcome.
“Every single game, whether it’s a win or a loss, we always have something we can learn from it,” Melton said. “Northwestern is a really strong team, and these tough opponents really help us prepare for the conference, but there are things we can do differently. We are going to keep working hard in practice, and every day we’ve been getting better.”
For Melton, the success she believes her team can have in the future stems from beyond what she can do on the court, but rather what she can do to help her teammates get involved to give the team the best chance to win.
“The main thing I want to keep focusing on is helping everyone else around me,” Melton said. “By pouring my energy and supporting them in everything they do, we all push each other and every day we get 1% better.”
While she focuses on getting everyone on the same page when it comes to improvement, she also knows that she personally has some ways to go before the Atlantic 10 Championship in November.
“There’s a lot of things I can get better at,” Melton said. “There’s always little things that I want to improve on in every aspect of my game.”
The URI women’s volleyball team will look to find its first win in eight games in a road game against the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Friday.
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