Melanie Costa

Melanie Costa is a two year captain and a four year contributor on the women’s volleyball team at Lasell College. 

Costa played in 27 matches as a freshman, picking up 37 digs in 70 total sets during the 2007 season.   As a sophomore, Costa made a huge transition to one of the primary passers on the team, and finished second on the team in total digs, behind Lasell’s all-time record holder Amanda Major. Costa collected 248 digs, averaging 2.76 digs per set, playing in all 29 matches (and 90 sets). She produced her season match-high in digs at Salve Regina University, with 21, and was also selected to the All-Tournament team at the Plymouth State University Days Inn Invitational.

In 2009, Costa recorded her first 30-plus dig performance (and career-high) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play when she tallied 37 against St. Joseph’s College of Maine.  She also registered a team-high 22 digs against Johnson & Wales University.  She completed the season with 304 digs, good for second on the team, averaging 2.71 per set.  She also added 17 service aces and 25 kills.

This season, as a senior, Costa took over the role of team libero.  In 43 sets played, Costa accumulated a team-best 210 digs.  She averaged 4.77 per set and recorded two 30-plus dig performances.   Her first milestone of the season was against Westfield State College, collecting up 32 digs, and her second was against GNAC rivals Mount Ida, registering 31 for the evening.

In 12 matches during the 2010 season, Costa recorded double-figures in the scoring column in eight of those occasions, and in each of those contests she led the team in the same category.  Unfortunately, Costa suffered a season and career-ending knee injury which sidelined her for the rest of the 2010 season.

For her career, Costa has 799 total digs, 54 total kills, 43 total assists, and 57 total aces.

Full Name: Melanie Costa    

Year of Graduation: 2011

Major: B.S. Accounting

Hometown: Ludlow, MA

High School: Ludlow High School

Movie: Love Actually

Book: Harry Potter

Class: Managerial Accounting

TV Show: Chelsea Lately

Song: Sympathy by Goo Goo Dolls

Athlete: LaDainian Tomlinson

Sports Team: San Diego Chargers 

Food: Bread

Why did you choose Lasell College?
I chose Lasell College because of the area and size. It was here or UMass Amherst and I liked that I had the ability to play volleyball here and the opportunities I would have here, being near Boston.

What’s your favorite memory as an athlete at Lasell?
My freshman year when we knocked Mount Ida out of the playoffs. I don't think I even played the entire game but the level of intensity was contagious, we just wanted to win.

Do you have any superstitions before you go into a game?
Not before games, but I do get very superstitious about bad karma during season. Thinking it will hurt my game play, I act extra good just to avoid the negative consequences. And I knock on wood a lot.

What do you do in your free time away from athletics?
Right now I work two jobs, at Starbucks and as an accounting assistant at Wayside Youth and Family Support Network. When I do have free time I like to mellow out with friends and eat.

Do you plan on continuing to play or to coach after you finish your career at Lasell?
I'm sure I'll never stop playing volleyball; you hate it when you have it but once it’s gone you miss it. I love everything about volleyball not just the sport but the relationships that come with it, so I wouldn't mind coaching one day.

Who has been a great influence in your life?
My grandma, she's a strong woman whose always coached me about life, it could be from the importance of education to the amount of shampoo I should use in one sitting.

What is a little known fact about you?
I get mistaken for every race south of the equator. But I'm half Portuguese and half Filipino.

Where do you hope to be after graduation?
In a job. I'm looking at graduate school and I plan to take the exams to get my CPA. Though, I hope to be back in San Diego or stay in Boston after graduation depending on what opportunities I have from either place.