Melissa Reynolds

Year Inducted: 2014

Melissa L. Reynolds was born to Kenneth and Sheryl Reynolds on Feb. 18, 1982.

She started playing soccer at an early age and it wasn’t until middle school that she decided to focus her athleticism on volleyball. While in 8th grade at Holland Woods Middle School, she decided to try out for the local travel club – Blue Water Volleyball. Within the first year of playing for the travel club, owned and managed by Terry Gamble, she was moved up to the 16-year-old travel team and was the starting middle hitter as a 14-year-old.

Reynolds, a 2000 Port Huron Northern graduate, continued to play for the Blue Water Volleyball Club throughout her high school career from 1996-2000. During her junior and senior years the 18U travel team took third and fifth place at the AAU Nationals tournament in Orlando.

Reynolds played on the junior varsity squad as a freshman at Northern and was on the varsity team the following three years. She was captain of the team her senior year and earned First Team All-Macomb Area Conference Red Division and All-Blue Water Area honors.

Following her prep career, Reynolds attended St. Clair County Community College during the 2000-01 school year on a volleyball scholarship. In 2000, the Skippers (73-2) captured the NJCAA Division II national championship. It was the first national title in school history. SC4 also captured the state championship and nine tournament titles under coach Gamble. She was a First Team All-Michigan Community College Athletic Association Eastern Conference selection and earned state and regional honors. She was voted the National Player of the Year. SC4 retired her No.13 jersey after the season.

Following her one season at SC4, Reynolds earned a full-ride volleyball scholarship to play at Central Michigan University. She played on the volleyball team from 2001-2003. As a senior, she was nominated captain and finished the season clinching the West Division title in the Mid-American Conference. She graduated from Central Michigan in 2003 with a Bachelor’s degree in sport management and a minor in marketing.

Reynolds had a short coaching stint following the completion of her career as the junior varsity volleyball coach at Shepherd High School as well as with the Dead Frogs Volleyball Club in Kalamazoo. Reynolds works for Stryker Craniomaxillofacial (CMF) and manages a team of four individuals who provide training and education across the country on the division’s product portfolio. Her husband, Kyle Stahl, is the women’s assistant volleyball coach at Western Michigan University. Even though she has retired from playing volleyball, Reynolds, a Kalamazoo resident, frequently attends matches to support her husband and WMU.