UH-Hilo's Peterson to step down

Advertiser Staff

University of Hawai'i-Hilo women's volleyball coach Sharon Peterson, who has guided the Vulcans for 25 seasons and helped them win seven national titles, is expected to announce her retirement today, according to people familiar with the situation.

A press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. today in the Athletic Hall of Fame Room on the UH-Hilo campus.

Peterson's teams compiled a 495-236 record during her career. The five-time Coach of the Year has nurtured a program that has produced more than 40 All-Americans and two national Players of the Year — Flo Alo (ASICS, 1988) and Tanya Fuamatu (NAIA, 1993).

Peterson and four of her players (Edie Manzano, 1988; Carla Carpenter, 1989; Glennie Adams, 1990 and Alofa Tagataese, 1994) have been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.

Peterson was selected USVBA All-American several times and MVP in 1969. She was also a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1964 and 1968 as well as a participant in the 1966 World Games and the 1967 gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Pan American Games. She returned in 1971 to the Pan Am Games for her last year of international competition in Cali, Colombia.

Peterson played for the Los Angeles Stars in 1975 and Denver Comets in 1977.

She began her coaching career at Punahou School as a varsity assistant in 1967. Two years later, she began a five-year career as head coach. In 1973, she moved to Hawai'i Preparatory Academy in Kamuela on the Big Island for another five-year term.

In 1999, Peterson was awarded the Flo Hyman awards as an All-Time Great Player by USA Volleyball. She is also enshrined in the Hall of Fame at California State University at Long Beach and El Camino Junior College.