‘Eaters voted to finish No. 2 in Big West

The UC Irvine women’s volleyball team has been picked to finish second in the Big West, according to the preseason coaches poll announced Tuesday by the conference office.

The Anteaters, under first-year head coach Paula Weishoff, received three first-place votes and a total of 73 points and sit two points behind conference favorite Long Beach State (75). Cal Poly was selected to finish third with 62 points and received two first-place votes. Pacific was picked to finish fourth, followed by UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.

Cal State Northridge, UC Davis and UC Riverside round out the poll at seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

UCI returns 10 letterwinners, including AVCA All-West Region selections Kari Pestolesi and Taryn Robertson.

Pestolesi, a two-time All-Big West first-team honoree, led the Anteaters in kills with 373 and service aces with 35. The sophomore ranked third in the Big West in aces (.34), fourth in kills (3.59) and eighth in digs (3.35).

Robertson concluded the 2008 season ranked 21st in the nation in assist average and was the team’s leading blocker with 73 total blocks.

Also returning to the team is all-freshman team honoree Alexandra Hauser, who totaled 62 blocks and 93 kills.

Seniors Alexandra Filkins, McCall Miller and junior Larissa Nordyke also keyed the Anteaters, who won 10 of their last 12 matches to end the season.

Filkins totaled 140 kills and 178 digs, while Nordyke added 83 kills and averaged 1.26 kills per set.

Miller picked up 35 digs, while recording three service aces and a pair of block assists.

UCI welcomes seven freshmen and two junior transfers this fall. The incoming class was ranked 24th in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com.

Weishoff, who recently served as an assistant coach with the USA women’s national team, became UCI’s fifth head coach last December. The three-time Olympian was inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1998 and was part of three national titles at USC — one as a player and two as an assistant coach. Prior to taking over the reins of the Anteater program, Weishoff spent five years at Concordia University in Irvine, where she posted a 146-31 record and was named the NAIA Coach of the Year in 2008.

Weishoff’s Anteaters open the season at the Nevada Invitational, Aug. 28-29. UCI begins tournament action against UC Berkeley before facing Connecticut and the Wolf Pack.