Boston Globe: "Campus Angle With Charleen Klangos"
Campus Angle: Charleen Klangos
September 25, 2015
By Allen Lessels, Globe Correspondent
Charleen Klangos was a softball and indoor track standout at Notre Dame Academy in Tyngsborough. But it was the game of volleyball that captured her interest the most after she earned a spot on the varsity in the seventh grade. A 5-foot-8 outside hitter from Lowell, she led the Massachusetts Maritime women’s squad with 73 kills last season. This fall, the senior-captain is again pacing the attack: She had a career-high 13 kills in each of two matches against Pine Manor on Sept. 12 and 15. The Bucs were winless a year ago, but under the direction of first-year coach Melanie Appleman — a former standout at Barnstable High and Bridgewater State — they are headed in the right direction, according to Klangos.
Q. What do you like best about volleyball and, in particular, being an outside hitter?
A. Volleyball has always been my main sport and hitting is my favorite part of it. Scoring points and hitting the ball down at the other team feels good. It’s really exciting and like an adrenalin rush, seeing a good set and knowing you’re going to kill it.
Q. What’s been the highlight of your collegiate career thus far?
A. I think it’s getting a new coach this year. We have a very young team with two seniors and mostly freshmen. We do a lot of work on fundamentals, which is good for everybody, and we’re seeing a lot of improvement now that we’ve played a few games and have been practicing on what the teams have gotten us on.
Q. You’re a marine safety and environmental protection major. What do you intend to do after graduation?
A. I’m looking to go into the Coast Guard. I did an internship with the Coast Guard this summer and it got me really interested. My favorite thing was we’d go into Boston Harbor and board different boats and check licenses and things. We had to wear body armor. We went to one vessel that was on fire and that was pretty exciting, but we couldn’t really get involved because we were only interns. But it was cool to watch what was happening. We were looking for a person in the water, but they swam to another boat.
Q. Who is your role model?
A. I would say my dad [Charles] because he always stays positive and always thinks about other people. He’s always motivating me. He goes to almost all of my games and if he misses one he sends me a text and tells me to play well and stay strong.
Q. Where would you like to go on a getaway vacation?
A. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia and go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. It’s more a long-term goal.
Q. So you’re a scuba diver?
A. I got certified here as a freshman. I don’t get to go as often as I’d like, but I went diving in the Caribbean on our sea term during the winter of freshman year. It’s a six-week training cruise, but when you’re in port you get to spend two days doing what you like to do.
Q. What’s the best part of diving?
A. I just like seeing everything that’s down there. It’s a whole different world. It can be pretty, or there can be nothing there. I saw a huge blowfish in Aruba. It didn’t blow up while I was down there, but it was still pretty big.
Q. What’s your favorite place to visit in New England?
A. I think the Cape is really nice. I love being down here for school. I like visiting farther down the Cape, too. P-town is a lot of fun.
