LIVINGSTON, Ala. –  The University of West Alabama Department of Athletics has announced the hiring of Peter Cruz, Jr. as Assistant Volleyball Coach, effective July 1.  He takes over assistant duties after Tabitha Turner was promoted to lead the Tiger volleyball program.

Cruz, 27, joins the UWA staff after leading the Cape Fear Community College volleyball program from 2007-09.  The University of North Carolina graduate led the Sea Devils to a 31-18 overall mark in his two seasons at the Wilmington, N.C. school, including an 18-win season in his first campaign.  CFCC finished the Carolinas Conference with a 16-4 mark in 2007. Cruz, tutored five players to All-Conference status along with three players earning All-Tournament honors.  Under Cruz, the volleyball program raised its team’s grade point average from a 2.3 to a 3.27 in his two-year stint as head coach. 

Cruz and Turner coached alongside each other at CFCC, as Turner assisted Cruz, Jr. during the 2007 campaign.  Along with his coaching duties at CFCC, Cruz served as an assistant coach for the United States Marine Corps men’s and women’s volleyball teams last summer and this past June.  Cruz helped guide the men’s team to a 6-0 mark against the Army, Navy and Air Force en route to the gold medal of the armed forces tournament.  He also traveled to Germany to compete against 14 other countries in the 29^th World Military Championships. 

The Havelock, N.C.-native has an extensive background in volleyball.  At UNC, Cruz was a member of the men’s club volleyball team as a player and also served as the coach of the squad.  As a player, he started at middle and right side hitter from 1999-2003.  His coaching duties included fundraising and managing the team’s travel.  Cruz also coached the women’s club volleyball team on the Chapel Hill campus.

Prior to his two-year stint at CFCC, he guided a pair of 18-under squads with the Carolina Region High Performance Volleyball program in Greensboro, N.C. He also mentored the Cape Fear Volleyball Club in Wilmington, N.C. from November, 2007 to this past April.

Cruz, Jr. earned his Bachelor of Arts, Management and Society from UNC in May, 2003.