Kari Pestolesi, former Irvine Valley assistant coach and daughter of longtime IVC volleyball coach Tom Pestolesi, was recently named the new women's head volleyball coach at Cerritos College.
Pestolesi coached at Irvine Valley as an assistant in 2012 and then again during the 2015 season.
She was also a coach at Concordia University. She joined the volleyball staff there in 2013.
Pestolesi has also been a lead coach at the 949 Athletics club volleyball team in Orange County. She led 949 to consecutive gold medals in the Boys Open Championship in the 15's division (2015) and 16's division (2016). Pestolesi is a member of the SCVA and USA Volleyball associations.
Pestolesi finished her college career in 2010. She was one of the best players ever at UC Irvine. Pestolesi was a four-year starter for the Anteaters.
She was UCI's first four-time All-Big West Conference first-team selection and left the program second in the career records in kills with 1,602 and digs with 1,491.
Pestolesi was a three-time AVCA All-West Region choice and was also recognized as an AVCA All-American honorable mention in 2009. She led the Anteaters as a senior in 2010 with a 2.92 kill average, posting 301 kills to go along with 352 digs.
Included in her time with the Anteaters, Pestolesi concluded her career ranked second in the program's history in kills (1,602) and digs (1,491). She received many awards during her playing days, including being named UCI's Female of the Year. AVCA National Player of the Week, Big west Player of the Week, while leading the team in kills four years in a row.
Pestolesi was named the Most Valuable Player in numerous tournaments, while she was selected the AVCA West Region Freshman of the Year and Big West Conference Freshman of the Year.
While playing volleyball for UC Irvine, she was selected as a member of the USA Volleyball National Beach Training Team in 2008 and also competed in the World University Beach Volleyball Championships as a member of Team USA.
Pestolesi played one season of professional volleyball in Switzerland as a member of the VFM (Volley Franches Montagnes), where they were Swiss Cup Finalists and won the CEV Cup Championship.
Before that, she was a standout at Edison High in Huntington Beach.
She was named the 2007 Most Valuable Player of the Orange County All-Star Game. Kari recorded the school record for most aces as a senior at Edison and also holds the top marks in career kills with 1,118, digs with 1,048 and aces with 232.
Pestolesi was a 2004 and 2005 All-CIF Southern Section first-team selection and a second team selection in 2003.
She helped lead Edison to a CIF championship in 2004.
After college she played professionally in Switzerland for Volley Franches Montagnes in the 2011-2012 season. They were Swiss Cup Finalists and won the CEV Cup Championship.
Her mother, Diane, and father, Tom, both played volleyball at the University of Hawaii. Her brother Tommy played volleyball for Long Beach State and professionally in Holland. Her other brother Danny played volleyball at Irvine Valley.
Pestolesi, 27, graduated from UC Irvine in 2010 with a B.A. in sociology, while minoring in education and earned her Master's degree from Concordia University in Coaching and Athletic Administration in 2013. She and her fiancee Brad Hemmerling are slated to be married in July 2017.
