HALL OF FAME FEATURE: Melanie Stanley '92

Years before Averett University’s women’s volleyball program became a dominant force consistently each year in the USA South Athletic Conference, the Cougars faced their struggles during the mid-1980s while finishing near the bottom of the league standings. However, Averett’s rise to an annual contender changed when Melanie Stanley stepped on campus.

Often considered by the late Barbara Kushubar as her “first big recruit,” Stanley’s presence helped Averett’s program achieve new heights and set the stage for decades of success for the Cougars.

With such a positive impact on winning, it is no surprise to see Stanley rewarded as a member of Averett’s Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which will be inducted during Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 19.

Over four years and 108 matches played, Stanley amassed stats of her own that shine alongside the team’s 57 wins during that period. She tallied 601 kills, 804 digs, 263 blocks and dazzled with 222 aces in her time as a Cougar. Yet, if it were not for the sales pitch and connection with Kushubar, Stanley’s path may have taken her elsewhere.

A native of Natalie, Virginia, Stanley grew up playing three sports, and it was basketball that stood out for her. When it came time for college, Averett faced stiff competition as the recruiting of Stanley began. The Division I University of Richmond Spiders came calling for Stanley’s talents and offered her a scholarship to play basketball. After visiting Richmond, the odds were stacked against Averett, especially as Stanley recalled seeing the “dungeon” of a gym (now a campus rec gym known as the Carrington Gym) where the Cougars used to play before North Campus was developed. Averett, however, had an ace up its sleeve in the form of Kushubar. The connection between coach and player started well before Averett was in the picture at Halifax County High School. It was there where Stanley met her future coach in Kushubar, who was her ninth-grade physical education teacher. After the years passed and Kushubar found herself coaching at Averett and in need of a building block for her team, she called upon Stanley. Using the collective appeal of the ability to continue playing multiple sports, the chance to stay close to family and to help build a program together, Kushubar delivered her pitch and landed the sought-after recruit. And from there the program began to grow and develop into something special.  

“I just didn’t realize I was going to start something,” Stanley recalled.  

With Stanley on board, other recruits began rolling in alongside her and success shortly followed. Part of that success for the team was the arrival of fellow 2024 Hall of Fame inductee, and Stanley’s lifelong friend, Ruth Miller. The two played together for a brief time on the Cougars but have remained close for years afterward and now get the opportunity to join the Hall of Fame together.  

“For Ruth and I to go in together makes it that much more special, because she was a big part of my life throughout those years,” Stanley said. “It just makes it that much more special to be honored in this way.”  

An honor that the two share long after their playing days have passed, but part of what secured a spot in the hall of fame came in the 1991 season, while the dynamic duo was still operating at full force. That season saw the Cougars break new ground, as the team won 28 games, including winning eight out of 10 conference clashes. The conference success secured the program’s first ever conference championship, and all these years later the memories still shine bright for those involved, and even for those who played no part.  

“We didn’t get rings, we got jackets with an embroidered logo, I still have my jacket if that tells you anything,” Stanley said. “I handed it down to my daughter and she wears it every now and then.”

A family memento that has been passed through generations, but that still pales in comparison to the memories created in the moment.  

“It was exciting, exhilarating. Tears of joy came out. People celebrated us for things that we enjoyed doing and had fun doing,” Stanley reminisced on the moment Averett secured its championship in program history. “Going and seeing Kushubar smiling and laughing and carrying on with all her colleagues, it was just wonderful to see all those people just so ecstatic.”  

As high as the highs of the moment were, Stanley acted just as any great athlete would, and thought back on what else could have been. That 1991 team had won the regular season title but came up short in the conference tournament — something that still haunts Stanley even after all this time. However, even though Stanley’s playing career was over, the foundation had been laid for the program moving forward. Stanley’s career helped start an 18-year stretch from 1990-2007 in which the team never finished a season with a losing record.  

Beyond making friends and memories, Stanley also fondly remembers the family culture within Averett that also included her parents.  

“When I went to Averett, it wasn't just Mel going, it was Melanie plus my mom and dad, who went to every sporting event I had ever played ball in,” Stanley said.  

And the Stanleys did not stop there in the stands, as her dad famously fed the team hot dogs, cheeseburgers and whatever else could be rounded up after games. At her graduation, Kushubar went as far as dedicating a plaque to her parents, and now many years later it is Stanley’s turn to receive her own hardware in the form of a Hall of Fame plaque.

Stanley recalls the life lessons she learned while at Averett, especially under the tutelage of Kushubar, who passed away in the spring after a courageous battle with cancer.

“I like to think that I grew up with Kush,” Stanley said. “She really had a hand in guiding me through that time of my life.”  

Part of the familial treatment included instilling discipline, and Stanley was no stranger to those teaching methods.  

“If I missed class, she would make me run from the bottom of the hill, all the way back up to my room, 586 steps.”  

But Stanley appreciates that many years later.

“Coach Kush is the embodiment of what Averett really is,” she said.

High praise for one Hall of Famer directly from the loving memory of another, which is even more special following Kushubar’s death given their connection to building the start of Averett’s women’s volleyball dynasty more than three decades ago.