Roger Williams University Athletics Announces Seventh Class Of RWU Athletic Hall Of Fame

Induction ceremony will be held on the Bristol Campus on Friday, October 18, as part of Homecoming Weekend

By Nicholas Williams
Portraits of the five inductees.
Jennifer (Weber) Falesto ’97 (Women’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball), Alec Anderson ’13 (Sailing), Kaitlyn Bovee ’14 (Women’s Basketball), Krystie Luczynski ’14 (Women’s Volleyball), and former Men’s Volleyball and Women’s Volleyball Head Coach and former Director of Athletics Joel Dearing will be inducted into the RWU Athletics Hall of Fame.

BRISTOL, R.I. - The Roger Williams University Athletic Department is proud to announce the seventh class of the RWU Athletics Hall of Fame. The department will induct four former student-athletes and one former coach. Receiving induction are Jennifer (Weber) Falesto ’97 (Women’s Soccer, Women’s Basketball), Alec Anderson ’13 (Sailing), Kaitlyn Bovee ’14 (Women’s Basketball), Krystie Luczynski ’14 (Women’s Volleyball), and former Men’s Volleyball and Women’s Volleyball Head Coach and former Director of Athletics Joel Dearing.

Falesto was a four-year member of both the Women’s Soccer and Women’s Basketball teams, ending her career as a dominant force in both sports. She excelled for four years as RWU’s starting goalkeeper. In her time in net, she ended her career as the program’s winningest goalie, finishing with 53 victories in her career. In addition, she still holds the program record for saves (702), save percentage (.901), and shutouts (30). She also ranks third all-time in women’s soccer program history in goals-against average (0.93). She was a 1993 All-CCC Second Team in women’s soccer and was the 1997 RWU Female Athlete of the Year. In women’s basketball, she finished her career as the program’s all-time rebounder with 646 total rebounds. 

Anderson was a four-year member of the Sailing team, ending his career as one of the most accomplished sailors in program history. He was a three-time ICSA All-American Coed Skipper and a three-time All-NEISA First Team Skipper. He was honored as the 2009-10 NEISA Rookie of the Year and later named the 2012-13 NEISA Sailor of the Year. A two-time ICSA College Sailor of the Year runner-up, he helped RWU win the 2011 ICSA Team Racing National Championship and played a large role in the team’s runner-up finish at the 2011 ICSA Match Racing National Championship and the 2012 ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship. He claimed 16 division wins as a skipper or crew and was part of 12 team regatta wins. Outside of Roger Williams, he was also the 2013 Bitter End Yacht Club Pro-Am Champion.

Bovee was a four-year member of the Women’s Basketball and finished her career as one of the best players in program history. She broke the RWU career scoring record, finishing with 1,570 points, while also breaking program records for three-pointers made (178) and tying the record with 107 games started. In her senior year, she was named CCC Player of the Year, NEWBA Player of the Year, ECAC New England Player of the Year, and was honored as a WBCA All-America Honorable Mention, the first All-American in RWU Women’s Basketball history. That same season, she led the team to the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. A three-time All-CCC First Team selection, she was the 2010-11 CCC Rookie of the Year as well as the 2013-14 RWU Co-Female Athlete of the Year. 

Luczynski was a four-year member of the Women’s Volleyball team and made her mark as one of the best players in New England during her tenure. She set a new program record for career attack percentage (.350) and finished with 1,192 career kills, one behind tying the school record. In her senior year, she was honored as CCC Player of the Year, NEWVA Player of the Year, ECAC Division III New England Player of the Year, an AVCA Division III All-American, and a CoSIDA Division III Academic All-American. She was also honored as 2010 CCC Rookie of the Year and 2013-14 RWU Co-Female Athlete of the Year. Over the course of her career, she was a four-time All-CCC First Team selection and helped lead the team to four consecutive Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships.

Dearing was instrumental in creating the Men’s Volleyball and Women’s Volleyball programs at Roger Williams and is a legend in the volleyball coaching community. He spent eight years as head coach of the Women’s Volleyball team and four years as head coach of the men’s program. Under his guidance, he led the women’s program to 143 victories, which is still most all-time by a Roger Williams Women’s Volleyball head coach. He also led the program to the 1989 ECAC Division III New England Championship. His men’s teams had a four-year record of 52-30-3, including winning the 1989 New England Division III Championship. In addition, he spent eight years as RWU’s Director of Athletics from 1980 to 1988. He ranks in the top ten all-time in Division III victories with 728 wins. He also received the 2006 AVCA Trailblazer Award for establishing the forerunner of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, the Molten Division III Men’s Invitational, as well as the 2013 Volleyball Hall of Fame Mintonette Medallion of Merit Award.

The induction ceremony will be held on the Roger Williams University Bristol Campus at Global Heritage Hall on Friday, October 18, as part of Homecoming Weekend.