Aug. 13, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF head volleyball coach Todd Dagenais announced Thursday that Erik Peterson has been hired at the Knights' newest assistant coach.
"I would like to thank Todd for giving me the opportunity to join his staff here at UCF," Peterson said. "I have had the good fortune to work with him for USA Volleyball and cannot wait to start contributing to UCF's program."
Over the past year, Peterson has been coaching the 14 Asics team of the Orlando Volleyball Academy, where he led the team to the highest finish for any Florida club team in a national competition when his team won the 2009 AAU 14 Open National Championship and took third at the 2009 USA V Junior Olympics in the 14 Open.
"We are very fortunate that Erik was here in the Orlando area and eager to get back into the collegiate game," Dagenais said. "He has a wealth of experience working with teams at the highest level, including his stint with the USA National Team. His experience training in the exact system that we use here at UCF will make for a seamless transition. It is always nice when you don't have to teach a training coach from step one. Erik comes in having already been mentored by former National Team coach Toshi Yoshida and our players and program are going to greatly benefit from his presence."
Prior to coaching in Orlando, Peterson spent four seasons as the assistant coach at USF. While with the Bulls, he helped guide the squad from a 4-22 record in his first season with the team to a 19-10 record in three-short years. Peterson's primary duties at USF were developing the skills of both the outside hitters and defensive specialists and serving as the secondary recruiter and director of volleyball operations.
Peterson was hired at USF after having worked with the USA Women's National Team as it prepared for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. As an assistant with the national team, he assisted the head coach in all facets of practice progression and also took classes at the USOC coaching sciences department.
Peterson began his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Florida in 2003. That season, he helped lead the Gators to the NCAA Championship match and a 36-2 record. Peterson's primary duties while at Florida were assisting with on-court training and individual sessions, scouting of opponents' offensive tendencies and charting video for the All-America selection committee.
The assistant's first coaching opportunity was at McIntosh High School in 1999. As the head coach of the freshman team, he led his squad to a 15-1 record. Peterson then moved into club coaching as the assistant coach of the South Atlanta Volleyball Club. In 2002, he returned to McIntosh High to serve as the head coach of the junior varsity team and the interim head coach of the varsity team, leading the varsity squad to its first appearance in the Elite Eight.
Peterson remains actively involved in the USA Volleyball Development Program. In the summer of 2006, he was an assistant coach at the Youth A2 High Performance Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. In that position, Peterson assisted in the training of the top-50 players in the youth national team age group under the guidance of Chuck Erbe, trained the outside hitters and coached the Youth National Team USA Gold to a fifth-place finish at the Junior National Tournament international division at the USA High Performance Championships.
Peterson has also served as a head coach at both the St. Leo and George Mason Developmental Camps and remains a lead tryout coach for USA Volleyball High Performance.
A graduate of Concordia College in Bronxville, N.Y., Peterson earned his bachelor's degree in biology in 1999. While at Concordia, Peterson was a member of the men's intercollegiate volleyball team from 1994-98, serving as captain his final two seasons. He was distinguished as the 1995 Concordia College Freshman Athlete of the Year and was named to numerous all-tournament teams. During his senior campaign he set a NCAA record for career digs with 1,103.
The excitement surrounding the 2009 volleyball season continues to intensify, as the squad opens the season in a mere 16 days on its home court for the Radisson-UCF Invitational on Aug. 28.
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