Bucknell University Athletics
Pam Peetz Joins Bucknell Volleyball Staff
8/5/2004 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Aug. 5, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bringing along more than a decade of coaching and teaching experience, Pam Peetz has been named assistant volleyball coach at Bucknell, head coach Cindy Opalski announced. Peetz, who at Bucknell will serve in a position recently elevated from a graduate assistantship, most recently was head coach at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, where she oversaw the fledgling Division II program for the last five years. A 1993 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she was a Dean's List student each semester, Peetz taught physical education at two Nebraska high schools after graduating with a degree in education and health, physical education and recreation studies. She taught and served as head volleyball coach and assistant track and field coach at Ashland-Greenwood from 1993-96, then taught and coached the volleyball squad at Beatrice High School in 1996-97. Peetz's first foray into the college coaching ranks came during a two-year stint as graduate assistant at South Dakota State University. While earning a master's degree in physical education and recreation with a 4.0 grade-point average, helped lead the Jackrabbits to a two-year record of 49-18 record and a pair of top-15 national rankings. SDSU made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II regionals, and she helped mentor the school's first-ever volleyball All-American. Peetz also taught wellness and physical education classes in addition to her coaching and administrative duties with the volleyball team. In July 1999, Peetz was hired at Midwestern State for her first collegiate head coaching opportunity. Taking over a program that was just three years removed from elevating from the NAIA ranks to NCAA Division II, Peetz's teams won 49 games in five years. The Lady Indians' 14 victories last season tied their record since making the transition to Division II. Three straight years the MSU volleyball team earned its school's Team Academic Merit Award, boasting the highest team GPA. Peetz also taught three activity classes each semester at Midwestern State. "I am pleased and excited to welcome Pam to the Bucknell volleyball family," said Opalski. "She comes from a very strong background and has excellent teaching skills. Pam has a plethora of experience at all different levels of volleyball, and I expect that she will have an immediate impact on our program." An outstanding prep athlete herself, Peetz was an academic all-state honoree in both volleyball and track and field at Pius X High School in Lincoln before accepting a scholarship to play both sports at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She competed in both sports for one year before moving to the Lincoln campus in 1989. At Bucknell, Peetz will join one of the Patriot League's most successful volleyball programs. The Bison went 11-3 in the league (16-13 overall) last season and advanced to the league championship match. Bucknell won Patriot League titles and secured NCAA Tournament berths in 1998 and 2000, and since 1993 the Bison boast a solid 69-35 conference record (187-119 overall). Bucknell sponsors 26 intercollegiate sports, including 14 women, at the Division I level (I-AA in football). It is a charter member of the Patriot League and has won the league's all-sports championship in 11 of the 14 years it has been contested, including the last seven in a row. Bucknell led the nation with a 100 percent graduation rate in the most recent survey and ranks third in Division I in producing Academic All-Americans.
