UCI brings talent, experience, luggage

Two things one needs to know about the UC Irvine women’s volleyball team this season:

It is on a mission and, for the most part, it is on the road.

Coach Charlie Brande’s Anteaters are still stinging from surprising late-season losses in 2007 to Temple and Cal State Fullerton, that, Brande believes, changed the team’s postseason resume from 23-9 and a likely NCAA Tournament at-large bid to a 21-11 mark that was difficult to make an at-large case for.

“Since the end of last season, this team has been on a mission to get to the NCAA Tournament and, hopefully, not overlook teams,” said Brande, entering his ninth season at the helm.

An NCAA berth would be the program’s first since 2003.

The Anteaters return all but middle blocker Kristin Kelley to the starting lineup. And with the development and maturation of several returners, as well as the addition of redshirt freshman middle Alex Hauser, UCI figures to challenge opponents with talent, experience and diversity.

Most of those challenges, at least leading up to Big West Conference play, will be on the road as the ’Eaters play 13 of their first 14 matches away from Crawford Court.

Interested observers might want to reserve Sept. 10, when the Anteaters play host to Oregon for a high-profile, as well as exclusive home date outside of conference play.

“I think this will be an exciting team to watch,” said Brande, whose annual home tournament was sabotaged by an initial commitment from the University of Texas, which includes senior Kiley Hall, a former Newport Harbor High standout.

“Once Texas committed, nobody else wanted to come,” Brande said. “So, we had to make other arrangements.”

UCI has tournament dates at San Diego State, Portland, Loyola Marymount and Notre Dame, before opening Big West play at UC Riverside on Sept. 27. The ’Eaters open the season Friday against host San Diego State, then conclude the tournament against San Diego and Albany the next day.

UCI, which finished third in the conference last season, was picked to do the same in the preseason coaches’ poll, which identified Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Long Beach State as the top two teams, respectively.

UCI returns first-team all-conference honorees Lauren Kellerman and Kari Pestolesi, as well as junior setter Taryn Robertson and senior libero Devon Sutherland, both of whom received honorable mention in all-conference voting last season.

Pestolesi, the Big West and American Volleyball Coaches Assn. West Region Freshman of the Year last season, led the team with 491 kills and 40 ace serves and was second with 349 digs as a 5-11 outside hitter. She will spend some time at the opposite position this season, Brande said, which will help create more hitting options.

Brande said Pestolesi, who was hampered last season by a broken big toe that is now healthy, has worked hard in the off-season to improve her .203 hitting percentage last season, as well as her consistency.

Kellerman, a 6-foot outside hitter and a two-time first-team all-conference pick, had 446 kills as a junior and ranks fifth on the UCI career list with 1,235. Her 34 aces and 252 digs ranked second and third, respectively, on the team in 2007.

“Toward the end of last season, teams would just stack their blockers on Kellerman and Pestolesi on the left side,” Brande said. “Moving Kari to the right spreads everything out, so they’re not able to camp on one hitter like they did last year.”

Helping free Pestolesi up to shift to the right side is the presence of outside hitters Larissa Nordyke, McCall Miller and Shannan Homan.

Nordyke, a 5-10 sophomore out of Hawaii, had just 43 kills last season, when she played primarily in the back row, while the 5-11 Miller, who had 30 kills last season as a sophomore, is 100% healthy again after off-season shoulder surgery.

Homan, a 6-2 senior, had 129 kills last season, her first in the program after transferring from Wake Forest. Brande said Ellis, who played middle blocker in 2007, could be a force as a blocker on the outside.

Chelsea Ellis, a 6-3 junior middle, led the Big West with a .371 hitting percentage last season, when she pounded 191 kills. She will be joined in the middle by promising 6-2 Hauser, whom Brande is very high on, as well as 6-0 sophomore Riley Cropper.

“[Hauser, the team’s lone freshman] is as physically talented as any middle I’ve had here,” Brande said. “She’s a long 6-2, but she’s extremely explosive. She can run and jump and really play.”

Robertson is already third in school history with 2,581 career assists after starting the last two seasons and Brande said her progress from last season represents “another major area of improvement.” Her 12.3 assists per game ranked third in the conference in 2007.

Sutherland is already the Anteaters’ career digs leader with 1,302, including a team-best 553 last season.

Junior Alex Filkins, a part-time starter last season, should supply quality depth at outside hitter, rounding out what Brande said is a group of 10 or 11 “starters” on the 14-player roster.

“As everyone has gotten more mature and better, it has allowed us to become a lot more versatile and go in a couple of different directions,” Brande said. “I think our ability to flip-flop players and give different looks will be one of our strengths.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.