Melissa Perea Position: Assistant Softball Coach

Melissa Perea enters her second season as an assistant coach for the CSU softball team.

Perea was added to the coaching staff by Head Coach Jen Fisher, her coach while at Otero Junior College, on Sept. 1, 2010.

Perea came to Colorado State last year after a four-year stint as the head coach at OJC in La Junta, Colo., where she took over for Fisher in 2006. Prior to taking over the reins as head coach of the Rattlers, Perea played two seasons under Fisher at OJC, and spent two years as a player at CSU-Pueblo. She began her coaching career as Fisher's assistant for two seasons at OJC.

At OJC, Perea continued a winning tradition started by Fisher, running the Rattlers' streak of consecutive Region IX championships to eight as a rookie head coach in 2007. She was recognized as the region Coach of the Year that season, and again in 2009, leading the team to yet another region crown in her third year.

Perea's OJC teams finished in the Top 20 of the NJCAA national rankings in each of her first three seasons, including a No. 5 ranking to end the 2007 season. She coached three NJCAA All-Americans and seven NJCAA academic All-Americans, finishing her career at OJC with an overall record of 146-67.

An all-region and academic All-America performer as a player at OJC, Perea continued her collegiate career from 2004-05 at CSU-Pueblo, where she earned a bachelor's degree in business management in 2005.