North Carolina native
Peter Cruz, Jr., is in his first season as
assistant coach at the University of West
Alabama, coming on board in July.
Cruz 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 29th 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, earned his Bachelor of Arts,
Management and Society from UNC in May,
2003.
|

EDOLI
HERRION
Graduate Assistant Coach |
Edoli Herrion, a former
four-year University of West Alabama
volleyball player, enters her second year
with the volleyball program as a graduate
assistant. Herrion played for the Red and
White from 2001-2004, playing two seasons
fro Phillip Bryant and her final two
campaigns under the guidance of Karisa
Wesley.
Herrion, a Daphne,
Alabama-product, appeared in 136 games as a
Tiger along with compiling 116 kills during
her career. As a senior, Herrion ranked
fifth on the team in kills with 82. She
posted a career-best seven kills against
Southern Arkansas. She posted three six kill
performances in 2004 - vs. Lewis (Ill), UAH
and Martin Methodist. As a middle blocker,
she ranked second on the squad in 2004 with
56 total blocks.
Herrion earned her undergraduate degree
from UWA in exercise science. She is the
daughter of Eddie and Lola Herrion and has
four siblings, Eddie, Atlas, Leigh, Tiffeny
and Mechelle.