Sharon Peterson started playing volleyball on Southern California beaches, and later played at El Camino Junior College and then Cal State Long Beach, graduating in 1964. She played for the US at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, and the 1967 and 1971 Pan American Games, winning a gold medal at the 1967 Pan Ams. Peterson was US Player of the Year in 1969. Peterson later settled in Hawai’i where she became a renowned volleyball coach at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, where she led the women’s teams to seven national titles and three runner-up finishes. After retiring from that post she coached the Hawai’i Preparatory Academy boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams. Peterson also coached the US team at the 1985 Universiade. She is a member of the El Camino Junior College Athletic Hall of Fame, the Cal State Long Beach Athletic Hall of Fame, and the NAIA Hall of Fame. In 1999, the US Volleyball Association gave her the Flo Hyman Award as an All-Time Great Player.
United States