Head Coach Kim Lester
Kim Lester is in her ninth year as Head Women's Volleyball coach. The 2004 Mesa's Womens Volleyball team (22-5) completed its highest finish in the program's history finishing second in the state. In 2006, the Olympians qualified for the State Championship again and finished fourth. Over the past four years Coach Lester has culminated a record of 59-1 in Pacific Coast Conference play and the Olympians have been conference champions outright for the past four years. Coach Kim was also honored as the PCC Coach of the Year (2004,2006,2007) as well as the PCC Female Sport Coach of the Year (2004).
Prior to coaching at SD Mesa, she served as Assistant Volleyball Coach at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has also successfully coached as either Assistant or Head Coach at Idaho State University, the University of Oklahoma, Saddleback College, San Diego City College, and Southwestern College. In these assignments, she has been known for her emphasis on developing good students as well as good athletes. She earned "Coach of the Year" honors at Saddleback College where her team finished 2nd in the state. She is also known for developing winning teams, resulting in numerous championships and titles.
Kim is a fomer intercollegiate player herself, playing for San Diego State University. She earned a B.S. in Physical Education and a Masters in Education with an emphasis in Physical Education from Azusa Pacific Univeristy.
Assistant Coach John Landicho
SD Mesa's Men's Head Coach John Landicho joins the women's volleyball team staff!
Former UC San Diego men's assistant and longtime San Diego high school and club coach John Landicho was appointed head coach of Mesa's men's volleyball program in the Spring of 2008. Landicho's first season as Mesa's head coach produced three Pacific Coast Conference wins, two more than the previous two seasons combined and despite little recruiting time due to his late hire.
An accomplished teacher of the sport, Landicho was a member of the coaching staff of USA Volleyball's 2009 High Performance Boys Holiday Camp, helping train the future members of the 2010 USA Youth National Team. He led the Academy of Our Lady of Peace Pilots to a 26-11 season and the CIF quarterfinals in the Fall of 2009 as their head coach, while overseeing a program whose three teams compiled a 76-15 overall record. He was an assistant coach & technical coordinator for the 2007 UCSD men’s team, helping the NCAA Division-II Tritons to wins over two D-I Top-15 teams. Landicho spent 11 years in the championship volleyball program at Francis Parker School, where he was the top assistant coach in the girls program led by Olympic gold & bronze medallist Eric Sato, and also logged 10 seasons as an assistant coach in the School’s boys program (1997-2006). In his 22 seasons at Parker he has helped Lancer volleyball teams to 48 championships, including 15 CIF-SD Championships, four Southern California regional titles, girls CIF State Championships in 1998, 2004, & 2005, and four season-ending #1 rankings in San Diego County. Eighteen of the last 20 Lancer girls and boys teams Landicho has been a part of, have made CIF-San Diego Section Finals appearances while winning league championships in 19 of those seasons. He is a two-time inductee into the Parker Athletic Hall of Fame, as part of the school’s standout 1998 boys volleyball team & as a member of Parker’s 1998 girls state championship-winning squad.
Landicho is a past member of the coaching staff at Epic Volleyball Club, where his last team (boys 17-1) earned a top-10 finish at the 2007 USA Volleyball Junior Olympics. He served as a technical advisor to the 1996 USA Men's Olympic Team, putting together the defensive scouting tapes the team used in the Atlanta Olympic Games. Landicho helped Grossmont College's 2001 women's squad to a 12-0 Pacific Coast Conference championship as the team's assistant coach. He has previously coached for San Diego, Starlings, and Seaside volleyball clubs, helping two teams to USAV Junior Olympic silver medals along the way, and has also coached at numerous volleyball clinics since 1991.
A 1993 graduate of U.S. International University with a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education, Landicho is a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association and has earned CAP Level I certification through USA Volleyball's Coaching Accreditation Program. Landicho and his wife Sandi are the proud parents of a daughter, Kimi.