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From 2007-10, Kari (Pestolesi) Hemmerling was one of the best players to compete in volleyball for UC Irvine. During her time with the Anteaters, Hemmerling was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) honorable mention All-American in 2009, one of seven UCI women's players to gain that recognition all-time. As a three-time AVCA All-West Region selection, Hemmerling was one of 13 Big West players to ever be named first-team All-Big West all four years and was honored as the 2007 Big West Freshman of the Year.

As a result of her accomplishments, Hemmerling is being inducted into the UC Irvine Hall of Fame Class of 2025. The class will be celebrated at a ceremony on January 31 and introduced the next day at the men's basketball game against UC Davis at the Bren Events Center.

"Being selected to the Hall of Fame is the ultimate honor," said Hemmerling. "It was never a goal of mine. The only thing I tried to do every single day was be the best at every single thing I did. I wanted to be the first one at the gym to help set up, I wanted to be the best shagger, the best teammate, the strongest in the weight room, etc. It's an honor to be selected out of the thousands of student-athletes that have come through the university."

Now in her ninth season as the Falcons head coach, Hemmerling has led her team to their first South Coast Conference title since 1997 and will enter the Southern California Regional Playoffs seeded #6. This is the second season the team has qualified for the postseason, with 2023 ending a 14-year drought.

Hemmerling is UCI's only AVCA National Player of the Week (9/1/09) and was voted Big West Player of the Week three times (8/31/09, 11/24/08, 10/8/07). She ranks second all-time in UCI kills (1,602), third in attack attempts (4,567) and digs (1,491) and fourth in aces (131). She was a member of the USA Volleyball National Beach Training Team in 2008, competing in the World University Beach Volleyball Championships as a member of Team USA. The outside hitter played one season of professional volleyball in Switzerland as a member of the VMS (Volley Franches Montagnes), where she was a Swiss Cup Finalists and winner of the CEV Cup Championship.

"The only time I had total and complete confidence in what I was doing was on that damn court," added Hemmerling.