Answer Special Call to Serve - King's College

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Monarch Sports King’s Volleyball Trio Wrapping Up Memorable Careers When the current women’s volleyball season comes to an end, it will mark the end of an era for one of the finest trios ever to play together for four years. For Katherine “Kat” Clerici, Kaitlyn Malshefski, and Danielle Belfanti, their journey together through the rigors of collegiate volleyball had their share of ups and downs. In the end, each will go down as one of the finest to ever play their individual positions at King’s. Clerici, a middle hitter, is a fiery, vocal leader who has served as team captain since her sophomore year. Malshefski, an outside hitter, is more reserve on the surface, but possesses excellent athletic ability and is equally passionate about the game. Both players are among a select group of six Lady Monarch players to reach the coveted 1,000-kill plateau in their careers. Clerici is also challenging several school blocking records. Belfanti plays the defensive-oriented libero position, where her extreme confidence and acrobatic style of defensive play, has enabled her to become the program’s all-time record holder in digs. When Lady Monarch head coach Bernie Kachinko successfully recruited all three players to attend King’s in 2006, he knew he had a core group of players who would be the foundation of the program for four years. With Clerici hailing from Seaford, NY, on Long Island, Kachinko was unable to see her play in person during the high school season due to King’s schedule. The Monarch mentor, however, had seen video of her and thought Clerici had a great deal of potential. Malshefski was a local product and enjoyed a solid career at Nanticoke High School where she was named the Wyoming Valley Conference most valuable player. Malshefski, who also played basketball at Nanticoke and is a senior member of the King’s basketball team, impressed Kachinko with her athletic ability and competitive nature. And Belfanti? Kachinko predicted to those close to the program that she would emerge as the best defensive specialist ever to play at King’s. While Kachinko fully believed each would make a significant contribution right away, two of the three came to training camp as freshmen with doubt and anxiety. “I came in thinking I wasn’t going to play,” Clerici recalled. “I remember when Coach Kachinko came to see me during the club volleyball season and I barely played and did not play well when I did. I was not a good blocker or a good hitter and I wondered what he saw in me. But I improved a lot during the summer before my freshman year. I came in and was able to mesh with everyone. I learned so much my first season. Coach worked us hard but I took it all in and ran with it.” Clerici’s growth can be seen in her accomplishments and statistics. Earning All-Freedom Conference honors in each of Shown from left, is Clerici, Belfanti and Malshefski her first three seasons, Clerici accumulated 1,104 kills as of late September and is approaching King’s third highest total of 1,255 by Michelle Simcoe from 1992-95. Earlier this season, she also broke the school-record of 372 total blocks set by Simcoe. For Malshefski, the college game was a major adjustment as she could no longer rely on her pure athletic ability. To be successful at the next level, she admittedly had to make tremendous improvement in her technique and did not feel she would play much. “I did not expect to play or to be one of the go-to hitters when I came to King’s,” she stated. “I was just happy to be playing and to have a spot on the team. I played high school volleyball with a bunch of basketball players and my fundamentals were not good. The preseason my freshman year was so hard, but my fundamentals improved throughout the year and continue to improve each year I play. I feel like I have grown a lot as a player since I came to King’s.” Malshefski became just the sixth Lady Monarch to register 1,000 kills earlier this season. A two-time All-Freedom Conference selection, Malshefski has could also challenge Simcoe’s third-place total by the end of the season. Ironically, it was the diminutive Belfanti who fully embraced the challenge of the collegiate game. Belfanti approached her career with a much different philosophy than her teammates. She was self-motivated and came to King’s with the goal of breaking all the school-records for digs. While the Reading native admits she may have come to King’s overconfident, her approach included a tremendous work ethic and a desire to improve. However, an unexpected twist occurred shortly after she arrived at training camp when Kachinko elected to move her from her beloved libero position to play setter. Kachinko 14 Pride ✦ Fall 2009 (See Volleyball on page 18)
Matt Easterday named Head Swimming Coach, Aquatics Director at King’s Matt Easterday became the new head coach of the men’s and women’s swimming teams, as well as aquatics director at the college, on September 28. Easterday comes to King’s with a wealth of swimming experience and literally grew up around the sport. His mother, Kim, has been the head swimming coach at McDaniel College in Maryland for the past 32 seasons. Easterday began swimming at age six and embarked on competitive swimming as a 10-year old. A 1999 graduate of South Carroll High School, Easterday was forced to compete at the club level because his school did not have a swim program. Swimming for the Green Terror Aquatic club from 1994-99, Easterday enjoyed a highly successful club career where he was twice named the Maryland State Swimmer of the Year and was also a six-time Junior National qualifier. Upon graduating from high school, Easterday enrolled at Division I University of Maryland. He swam for the Terrapins for one season, competing primarily in the 200 butterfly and the 400 individual medley, as well as part-time in the 100 butterfly. After his freshman year, he elected to transfer to Division III McDaniel where he enjoyed a successful three-year varsity career. He set school records in the 200 butterfly as well as in the 200 and 400 meter relay events. Additionally, he ranks in the McDaniel top-ten in the 200, 500, and 1000 freestyle; the 100 and 200 butterfly; the 100 and 200 backstroke; and the 200 and 400 individual medley. After receiving his degree in business administration from McDaniel in 2004, Easterday was hired as the assistant swimming coach and assistant aquatics director at Washington College, Chestertown, Md. In 2006, Easterday was hired as the assistant swim coach and aquatics director at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. There, he helped coach two Centennial Conference men’s team champions, seven NCAA Division III All-Americans, 12 swimmers who would break school records, and an additional eight swimmers who would set new Centennial Conference records. “I am very excited to be at King’s and look forward to helping build a winning, successful program,” Easterday stated. “I was attracted to King’s because the college offers great academic programs and a beautiful campus. The college is in a good area of the country to recruit and I see a lot of similarities to other schools that I’ve coached at in the past. The Division III motto is very much instilled in my blood and I just love the type of student-athlete that attends a Division III institution. I believe King’s can be very successful at the collegiate level. One of the biggest things that I want to develop here at King’s is a team identity. I want people to recognize the swim team not only around campus, but throughout the conference, and anywhere in the swimming community. My other big goal is to make every swimmer at King’s faster than they were. We will make individual and team goals and meet those goals throughout the season. I am thrilled to be here and excited to get the ball rolling.” At King’s, Easterday will look to continue the growth of a King’s program that has made steady progress in recent years. A year ago, the women’s team finished with a 7-8 mark while the Monarch men were 5-9. Several swimmers return to the 2009-10 squad, providing Easterday with a solid foundation to build with. “We are thrilled to have Matt join our staff and believe he will be an outstanding fit at King’s as well as in the local swimming community,” said Athletic Director Cheryl Ish. “Matt has a strong swimming background both as a studentathlete and as assistant coach and we believe he is more than ready to make the transition to head coach. I believe Matt truly understands the Division III philosophy and will be an excellent mentor to our swimmers. Matt is enthusiastic and competitive, both traits that will resonate with our current swimmers and help build our program with future recruits. Swimming has been such a major part of his entire life and we are confident his love for the sport will translate to our studentathletes.” Pride ✦ Fall 2009 15
Page 1 and 2: FALL 2009 Deacons- King’s Graduat
Page 3 and 4: Contents Fall 2009 PRESIDENT Rev. T
Page 5 and 6: Kevin Clark Mathematics, football a
Page 7 and 8: Dustin Stark, who received a degree
Page 9 and 10: Deacon Gene Kovatch is shown with s
Page 11 and 12: King’s Earns Place on CCAP/Forbes
Page 13 and 14: Faculty Profile Laurie Ayre Reading
Page 15: Faces of King’s Jacintha Burke Ad
Page 19 and 20: Knoblauch, Venarchick Achieve Rare
Page 21 and 22: Athletic Schedule Winter 2009-2010
Page 23 and 24: King’s Easter Egg Hunt Despite a
Page 25 and 26: R e u n i o n King’s Annual Reuni
Page 27 and 28: Campus Neighbor Celebrates Part of
Page 29 and 30: Alumni Profile Mike Angley ’81 Mi
Page 31 and 32: Joseph Newcomer ’94 was promoted
Page 33 and 34: Alumni Births Congratulations to Jo
Page 35 and 36: Donor Profile Richard A. Alley, M.D

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