One of the Hillsdale College women's tennis team's best players over the last three seasons will remain a part of the program for the 2024-25 campaign.
Melanie Zampardo will step into an assistant coach role with the Chargers this fall, looking to help Hillsdale continue to build the program as the Chargers seek their first G-MAC crown since 2021.
Zampardo transferred to Hillsdale for the 2021-22 season after spending her freshman year at Wayne State, and instantly became a lineup mainstay once eligible to play for the Chargers. Over three seasons in blue and white, Zampardo recorded 67 match wins while playing No. 2 and No. 3 singles and No. 1 and No. 2 doubles for the Chargers, earning second team All-G-MAC honors all three seasons. Her senior year this past spring was the best campaign of her career, as she finished with a career-high 27 total victories between singles and doubles play and formed a doubles team with sophomore Megan Hackman that spent much of the season in the Midwest Regional rankings and was nationally ranked for multiple weeks. In April, she helped the Chargers reach the semifinal round of the G-MAC Tournament for the sixth-straight season.
Now, she'll bring her knowledge and leadership to a coaching role with the Chargers under head coach Liam Fraboulet beginning this fall.
"From the success she had in her playing career, it's clear Melanie is an excellent tennis player with a strong understanding of the game." Fraboulet said. "More than that, she's been an emotional leader for our team for the past couple of seasons, and her work ethic and attitude on the court have really set the tone for the rest of our squad, which is something she'll continue to do for the team as a coach.
"It's going to be a significant boost for our program to have an assistant coach. Just having another person that understands the game will alow us to give more one on one attention to players and to get more done in practice, and make us that much better and more competitive as a team."
A native of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Zampardo is an alumnus of University Liggett High School in Grosse Pointe Woods.