Volunteer coach Tom Pestolesi returns to Hawai’i with a wealth of experience. He will be taking a five-month sabbatical from his position as the head coach of the women’s indoor volleyball team at Irvine Valley College this season for the opportunity to serve as a volunteer coach under his former coach and mentor, Shoji.
After playing two collegiate seasons at Long Beach State from 1979-80, Pestolesi transferred to Hawai’i where he earned All-America honors in his junior and senior years under Shoji, who was the UH men’s volleyball head coach from 1979-85. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from UH in 1983 and also earned his master’s degree from Long Beach State in 1989. Pestolesi played for the U.S. team at the World University Games in Bucharest, Romania in 1981 before beginning his coaching career.
Pestolesi coached at a trio of high schools and then for the Professional Beach 4’s Tour before starting the IVC men’s volleyball program in 1991. Since that time, Pestolesi has served many roles at Irvine Valley College. He won three state championships as the head men’s volleyball coach from 1991-94 and 1999-2009 with a career record of 163-95. Pestolesi has been the head women’s volleyball coach since 1998 with a career record of 302-102. He has led the Lasers to 17 consecutive state playoffs and to a state championship title in 2014-led in part by current Rainbow Wahine middle hitter Annie Mitchem who was a two-time AVCA national two-year college Player of the Year at IVC.
Pestolesi then started the IVC women’s beach volleyball program as the head coach in 2010 and at the same time introducing it as an intercollegiate sport to the California Community Colleges. His beach teams have earned a 20-1 record against community colleges and the Lasers were the ICCCAA state champions in 2015 and the state runners-up in 2016.
During his time at IVC, Pestolesi also spent time as a coach with several of the U.S. National teams. He was the USA Men’s and Women’s Training Coach from 2008-13 and was an assistant on the women’s indoor team, winning a gold medal at the 2012 Pan Am Cup (Juarez, Mexico); silver medal at the Final Four in 2009 in Lima, Peru; and a fourth place finish in the NORCECA Tournament in 2009 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
Pestolesi is married to Diane Sebastian Pestolesi, who is considered to be the first blue-chip mainland recruit for Shoji and his young program in 1978. Sebastian Pestolesi was the starting middle blocker for the 1979 AIAW national championship team and named to the all-tournament team. She was a three-time AIAW All-American (1978-80) and the 1980 Broderick Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate volleyball player. A U.S. national team member, she was named the 1981 Hawai’i state female athlete of the year and in 2013 she was inducted into UH’s Circle of Honor. The two have three children who reside in Huntington Beach, Calif.
