It was disappointing, but understandable to hear that the California Community College Athletic Association women's volleyball season for this coming fall has been pushed back to early spring of 2021 due to the continuning coronavirus pandemic.
But there was some good news for the Laser indoor squad - former Irvine Valley standout player Olivia Aguilar will be joining new head coach Ryan Windisch's coaching staff next spring.
The California Community College Athletic Association Board of Directors overwhelmingly approved implementation of its Contingency Plan last week, providing a return to intercollegiate athletics for the 2020-21 academic year that shifts all sports to the spring season.
Aguilar was not only a state champion, but also the CCCAA State Championship MVP in 2017 as she helped the Lasers to a 27-0 record.
Windisch confirmed that Aguilar, indeed, will still be an assistant next spring.
IVC can't wait to have her back on campus and working with the squad.
Windisch was announced as the head coach of the IVC women's indoor team two weeks ago, replacing legendary Laser coach Tom Pestolesi, who retired from his full-time faculty role at the college last month.
Windisch was a former men's player for Pestolesi, has been a part of his women's coaching staff and has held the head coaching duties for the IVC men's indoor team the last two seasons.
"When I first began forming the staff, I really wanted a female alumni to join on with (former IVC star libero and University of Hawaii alum) Nick Castello and myself," Windisch said. "I reached out to Pesto to see if he had any suggestions and mentioned that Olive was going to be back in town. I reached out to her and she accepted without hesitation. I am so happy to have her on board."
Aguilar turned in a legendary Irvine Valley year with the indoor team in 2017.
In the fall of 2017, Aguilar had a breakout campaign. The 6-1 outside hitter helped the Lasers record a perfect season and win the second California Community College Athletic Association title in program history.
Aguilar delivered a state championship final match record 30 kills as she rallied the Lasers from a set down to capture the 2017 CCCAA State Women's Volleyball title in defeating San Joaquin Delta, 23-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-16, at Solano College in Fairfield.
As the tourney MVP, she hit .348 overall and totaled a tourney-high 69 attacks with six errors. She added 10 digs, two aces, and three blocks.
Aguilar was a two-year starter and all-conference player for the IVC indoor team and earned all-state and All-American honors her sophomore season.
She was also a standout on the sand. Aguilar reached the spring CCCAA state tournament with the Irvine Valley team and also individually with pairs teammate Renata Bath (playing indoor at UC Riverside).
Aguilar moved on and starred at NCAA Division II Cal State San Marcos the last two seasons.
She was named as an All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) honoree in the fall of 2019, earning second-team honors.
Aguilar ended the season with a team-leading 2.72 kills per set and 230 total kills. She finished 12th in the CCAA in points per set (3.35).
On the year, the senior ranked third for digs per set (2.05), total blocks (42) and service aces (19) for the Cougars.
Aguilar, who started in 25 matches, helped Cal State San Marcos reach the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament.
She had 11 kills, seven digs and one ace in the team's semifinal defeat to Cal State San Bernardino, which was the squad's final match of the season.
Cal State San Marcos finished with a record of 16-11 overall. The 16 wins was a program best in the NCAA era.
Aguilar also earned academic honors in receiving the Big Blue award (2018 and 2019) and the Cougar award (2019) at San Marcos.
"Since Olive just finished up a great (college) career (at Cal State San Marcos), I will be looking to her to relate with the current players," Windisch said. "Her experiences are ones that others will be able to understand. Her perspective of how the game is played and the way she sees thing will be extremely valuable in practices and matches.
"I am extremely excited to bring on another former Laser great. Having a staff that truly understands what it means to wear IVC makes everything easier. Olive will fit right in and I'm sure it will almost seem like she never left."
Pestolesi, who will continue to help out as a volunteer assistant on Windisch's staff in the early spring schedule of 2021, as well as guide the women's beach team later in the spring, is just as thrilled to have his former standout guiding IVC student-athletes.
"I am as proud of Olive (former El Toro High star) as any player I have ever coached at IVC," said Pestolesi. "She came to us as a middle/right side. We had her on the right until the day before conference started her first year as a freshman (2015).
"We made the switch and she just kept getting better and better on the left and by the last month of the season she was the best attacker in the conference on the left.
"It was so rewarding to see her grow in her time at IVC and gain so much confidence. To see her become a champion, All-American and earn a scholarship to CSU San Marcos has been one of my favorite highlights at Irvine Valley.
"She is a great young woman and teammate and I am so excited to have her back on campus. I absolutely love having former players back to coach with us."
