Saint Leo University Athletics

Erik Peterson assumed the role of interim head coach of the Saint Leo volleyball program in August of 2018. Peterson joined the volleyball staff as an assistant in August of 2017 with his primary focus being with the beach volleyball program which played its inaugural season in the spring of 2018.

During the 2018 season, Peterson led the Lions to a 17-15 record including 12-8 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Lions advanced to their sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and knocked off five top-25 opponents.

Peterson helped two Lions achieve SSC All-Newcomer Team status in his first season as interim head coach while junior Annabella Arcari earned Second Team All-SSC honors and was named AVCA All-South Region Honorable Mention.

Peterson came to Saint Leo with a plethora of experience, including most recently serving as the head coach for Texas Christian beach volleyball program.

Peterson has also been heavily involved with USA Sand Volleyball since 2007, including his roles as a head camp coach at the A3 Development camp at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center and a head coach for the Boys USA A2 U19 squad. Peterson also served as the head coach of the UCF sand volleyball program from 2009-12 and was the beach volleyball director at the Orlando Volleyball Academy from 2007-09.

As a head camp coach for USA Volleyball Beach High Performance in 2014, Peterson designed a camp plan for 28 athletes and directed training and classroom sessions. Peterson has been a try-out coach and lead evaluator at USA Volleyball Beach High Performance events since 2007, while also serving as a tournament coach for the USAV High Performance Championships at Hermosa Beach in 2013.

Peterson went to TCU after spending the three seasons as an assistant coach for indoor volleyball at Oklahoma. In his three seasons in Norman, Peterson helped guide the Sooners to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances with 20-plus win seasons each campaign, while also helping mentor four student-athletes to All-America honors.

Before his time in Norman, Peterson was previously an assistant coach at the UCF from 2009-12 and was responsible for opponent scouting and training outside hitters and defensive specialists. He also oversaw the UCF sand volleyball program, UCF's summer camps, was a secondary recruiter and student-athlete mentor.

As the head coach for sand volleyball at UCF, Peterson led the Knights to back-to-back first place finishes at the 2010 and 2011 Fiesta on Siesta Collegiate Coaches Cup.

In 2011, Peterson helped UCF to its best record since 2003 with a 20-11 overall mark. The Knights also won the most league matches (12) since joining Conference USA in 2005.

In his three seasons at UCF, Peterson trained outside hitter Angelica Crump who earned AVCA All-America honors in 2011. Crump also became the first UCF volleyball player to earn All-Conference USA first team honors. At least one outside hitter earned second team honors in each of his three seasons.

Prior to UCF, Peterson spent four seasons as the assistant coach at the USF. He helped guide the Bulls from a 4-22 record in his first season with the team to a 19-10 record in three 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 in his final year.

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; on court training all while teaching classes within 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 an NCAA runner-up finish and a 36-2 record. Peterson's primary duties while at Florida were assisting with on-court training and individual sessions, scouting of opponent's offensive tendencies and charting video for the All-America selection committee.

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 Saint Leo and George Mason Universities Developmental Camps and has assisted at the M2 Volleyball Camps in Clinics in Florida and Hawaii that are owned and operated by three-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor.

Peterson earned his bachelor's degree in biology in 1999 from Concordia College in Bronxville, N.Y. He was a member of the men's intercollegiate volleyball team from 1994-98, serving as captain his final two seasons. He was honored 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.