Liberty senior Carly Shire delivered a belated Christmas gift to King’s College volleyball coach Bernie Kachinko on Dec. 28 in the form of a verbal commitment to continue her athletic and academic career as a Monarch.

“He said it was an awesome Christmas gift and then had a couple girls reach out to me on behalf of the education majors,” said Shire, who plans to study secondary education.

As Shire explained her recruitment process, the senior setter described it as not the norm, especially because Shire had already made the decision not to play collegiate volleyball.

“I was planning on going to Penn State,” she said. “I thought about the Coast Guard Academy, but I was debating the military route and decided it was not something I wanted to do.”

Shire also considered Kutztown, Millersville, Moravian and Bloomsburg with academics being her priority.

While Shire was mulling over her future, Coach Kachinko reached out to Shire’s club team, East Coast Power, in search of setters for the 2021 season.

“We had a couple phone calls before me visiting King’s, and then I realized playing volleyball in college would be something to do, and our season was cut short this year, and I might want to coach someday,” Shire said.

Shire then took a trip to Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 23.

“I loved the campus and all it had to offer. I spoke to the coach for an hour. He told me right away I would have a roster spot and wants to get me into some games,” she said.

Former Hurricane teammates who continued their athletic careers in college assured Shire that she would be able to balance academics and volleyball, something that she knew she would need to consider.

“I know it’s not going to be impossible, but it will be challenging, and I think I will be fine,” said Shire. “I’m so excited. Playing in high school, I loved it. I love it so much I’m always begging my younger sister to play with me outside. All the pieces fell into place, and I’m really glad they did.”