Junior Melissa Eyer ’28 is a force to be reckoned with on the volleyball court. In her third collegiate season, the libero continues to anchor the Garnet defense. In her freshman year, Eyer swept the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, Centennial Defensive Player of the Year, and AVCA Region V Freshman of the Year awards. The following fall, the then-sophomore captured AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, AVCA All-Region First Team, and Centennial Defensive Player of the Year awards.
On Sept. 22, Eyer earned her season-first Centennial Conference Athlete of the Week award for her standout performances at the Swarthmore Tri-Match the weekend prior. Throughout a doubleheader against Dickinson College and Vassar College, Eyer totaled 47 digs to help the Garnet win both games 3-1. The next week, Eyer earned her second conference weekly award for her defensive play at the Swarthmore Invitational. This achievement marks her seventh conference weekly player recognition. Across three games, Eyer made 66 digs to secure clean sheets against Salisbury University and DeSales University and a 3-1 win against Widener University. The junior recorded a season-high 32 digs and 11 assists against Muhlenberg College on Oct. 2, a tight 3-2 game that secured Swarthmore its third-straight conference win. The Nampa, ID, native is pursuing a double major in engineering and applied math.
Aimee Lee: Congrats on your second Centennial Athlete of the Week nomination of the season. How do you feel receiving the award, and how do you feel about it in relation to the season so far?
Melissa Eyer: I feel good. Obviously, there’s always a little bit of pressure to repeat the success that you’ve had in the past, and I know I’ve definitely felt that. So it’s nice to kind of start off on a strong note. And also, I think the award is a reflection of the team’s success, too. You can’t win these awards without having winning records, so I think it’s nice to get recognized, but also to be contributing to team success. I think our record right now is showing how successful we’ve been so far.
AL: The volleyball program has gone through coaching staff changes, most notably the addition of a new head coach and assistant coach. What has that transition been like for you and for the team?
ME: It’s definitely been different, but I think it’s been a good transition. I think we all kind of came in with this kind of new intensity and energy that was really good for us, and just kind of having to adjust to a different coaching style and slightly different expectations. I think it kind of kept us on our toes in a good way. That energy has been reflected in how we’ve been playing, the same kind of energy and intensity we’ve been bringing to practices and games. I’ve really benefited from getting new coaching perspectives; it has helped and kind of elevated my place.
AL: How did you prepare for this past Friday’s game against Muhlenberg and Saturday’s doubleheaders against Stevenson University and William Patterson University?
ME: Honestly, a big focus this past week has been effort. I think that something that our coach was really big on was just giving all of our effort every play, every single game. So we kind of focused on a lot of conditioning-type drills to prepare us for that more. I think that’s an aspect of our game that we can definitely improve a little bit, especially playing, like, three games in the span of two days. It’s really hard on your body. So just kind of building that mental toughness and resilience and practice.
AL: Now as an upperclassman entering your third season as a veteran player, are there expectations that you have for yourself that you hold to a higher standard or some goals that you hope to hit by the end of the season?
ME: I think I want to focus on being a composed leader on the court. As an underclassman, you can sometimes just be there to try your best, and there aren’t really as many expectations for you to be an example for everyone else on the team, but I think, as an upperclassman, it’s kind of like, okay, now you need to show up and be an example for your team. I think I’m just trying to play with more of a level head, and just really stay composed. Also, I really value leading the example, and I always try to work my hardest for my teammates because I hope that’ll inspire them to do the same,
AL: What do you enjoy doing outside of being an athlete?
ME: I’m pretty busy with school, but I do play violin in the orchestra — it’s something fun I like to do. But this semester, I’ve just been extremely busy with school. I do research too, which I don’t know if that counts as a fun thing. I do environmental engineering research where my lab’s focus is on looking at more sustainable ways of managing organic waste. So a lot of our research so far has been focusing on composting specifically and trying to measure greenhouse gas emissions from composting. Now we’re kind of transitioning to an outdoor composting experiment where we measure the biodegradability of the compost of plastics that we use on campus. Outside of that, I like to read for fun sometimes, watch TV, and go for walks. I also really like to bake.
AL: If you could teach one class at Swat that’s not academic, what would it be?
ME: I would really like to teach a baking class. I really like to bake. Maybe a pastry baking class.
