All-American Dream

by Damian Secore

Spring/Summer 2005

Known for being competitive, aggressive, upbeat and high-energy, it figured that Kim Cherniss could walk down any professional avenue and shine. She could have made a career out of playing volleyball in Europe, having been a two-sport standout at the University of California, Riverside in volleyball and softball from 1980-84. She could have been a top-selling real estate agent. A frequent host of poker parties, she could have burned up Vegas’ Texas Hold’em circuit, too.

But she was not going to be a basketball star. “I convinced her to come out (for basketball),’’ recalled Nancy Simpson, Cal State San Bernardino’s director of athletics, who coached Cherniss in both softball and basketball at UCR. “As a player on the bench, most players try to catch the coach’s eye because they want to get into the game. When I wanted to put her in, I looked down the bench and couldn’t find her. She was trying to hide from me. I’d lean forward and she would lean back. That was the only time I ever saw that in her. I don’t think she thought she was doing very well because her standard is so high, and that is so typical of Kim.”

Eventually, Cherniss stuck to what she knew, and loved, best. In 14 seasons as head coach of the Cal State women’s volleyball team, Cherniss has elevated the program to flagship status, right along with the men’s basketball team, among Coyote athletics. Cherniss was hired as the university moved to NCAA Division II in 1991. Since then she’s posted a 278-159 record, making her the second winningest coach in the university’s history (baseball coach Don Parnell had 314 wins entering 2005).

Over the past five seasons, the Coyotes are 140-23 with CCAA championships from 2001-2003 and NCAA Pacific Region titles the past two years. The Coyotes reached the national semifinals in 2003 and the Elite Eight quarterfinals in 2004, and they have appeared in the Pacific Region title game five years in a row.

And to think Cherniss could have gone down another path entirely. Shortly after graduating from UCR in 1986, she lived surreally, playing and coaching professionally for one season with Meylan Entente Sportis, ensconced below the French and Swiss Alps in France. “It was the most wonderful existence of my life,’’ Cherniss said. “We would practice every evening and then go out and sit in some smoky jazz/piano bar and just talk until 2 a.m. I stayed in the guesthouse of the club president. He was a physical education teacher at the local school and so every time he went skiing or kayaking, I was invited.

“I realized that I had to make a decision, whether to come back and start my life or be this nomadic figure and stay over there, because you can get caught up in it.”

Opting to shun the nomadic life, Cherniss came back to UCR as a volleyball assistant coach. But her day job was selling homes. She worked as an agent from 1988-91. “Everybody was looking to buy. I made some good money and was able to purchase my first home. It happened to be something that I did well, but I found myself just continuing to be drawn back to coaching.”

Cherniss’ first six years were lean, but the tide began to turn in 1997 with the arrival of Cherniss’ first All-American, Jamie Liefveld, who formed a fearsome duo with sophomore Mary Thornton. That was Cherniss’ first winning season, and kicked off eight consecutive 20-win campaigns. Amy Pope came along in 1998, and the team soon gained elite regional and national standing with the introduction of Cherniss’ fabulous starting freshman class of 2000 – Kim Morohunfola, Kim Ford, Bridget Harris-Crosby and Kristen Soliz. Cherniss’ 2000 team (a first-time Pacific Region finalist) and the 2003 national semifinalist team are her sentimental favorites.

Cal State’s talent surge is largely due to winning year-in and year-out, as well as Cherniss’ association with the Rancho Cucamonga-based Rancho Valley Volleyball Club. She has served as its head coach/technical director/recruiting coordinator since 1994. Cherniss’ assistant at Cal State, Danny Scott, also coaches at Rancho Valley. Liefveld was the first impact player to take the Rancho Valley-to-Cal State route. “I wanted to be involved so I could help develop the kids,” said Cherniss. “The big advantage for me, through watching them at the club, is you get to understand the character of the kids.” While Cherniss resides in Calimesa with her husband, Pete, and daughter, Jordan (soon to be 2), her teams are extended family.

Cherniss has coached six AVCA/NCAA All-Americans and the last two Division II Players of the Year in Morohunfola (2003) and the sister of Bridget Harris-Crosby, Brie Harris (2004), who found that two years at Division I Pepperdine wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. “I definitely enjoyed my time a lot more here,’’ Harris said. Kim “definitely knows what she’s doing. She’s got the side where you love her, and she’s got the strict side where she’s definitely got your respect. I’d say she puts herself out there a little more than most coaches. As a head coach, it’s hard to keep that balance between coach and player and friend. You can talk to her about anything. You can trust her with anything.” Cherniss instituted Coyote traditions such as preseason team-bonding trips and pre-game meals prepared by players’ parents. Sometimes, dinner is at her place.

“I go to her house for Thanksgiving,” Morohunfola said. “I actually met Kim when I was 15 (at Rancho Valley). Each year, I was kind of connected to her. My freshman year, she was more like a coach to me. By my senior year, she was more like my friend. She’s kind of like my mom.”

Cherniss’ bubbly personality and her collegiate sporting experience allow her to relate well with her players. She also works her team hard in practice. “When we do drills and scrimmages against each other,” Morohunfola said, “the loser runs. I’ve noticed, through the years, she makes you want to play. She invests so much time. You want to do good for her.”

Cherniss takes just as much pride in her team in the classroom, where it often tops all Coyote athletic teams in team GPA. That honor was surrendered to the men’s golf team for 2003-04. “I hate it every time we lose that,” said Cherniss. “I have a slogan: ‘Winning teams, winning grades and a winning image,’ ” Simpson said. “She’s as close to that total package as I’ve ever seen.”

It is a mix of the winning and the relationships Cherniss has nurtured at Cal State – she maintains regular contact with at least half of all Coyotes she has coached – that allows her to re-live her playing days. She is not looking for job satisfaction elsewhere. “I get the most satisfaction out of knowing the majority of kids look back on their experience here and know they had a great time,’’ Cherniss said. “Why would you do this job and not reap some of the benefits? I want to be a factor in their life and their development.”

Damian Secore, whose first piece for Cal State San Bernardino Magazine appeared in the fall/winter 2004 issue, is a freelance writer living in Highland, Calif. He graduated from CSUSB with a degree in communications in 1996. His stories also have appeared in the San Bernardino Sun newspaper.

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