The University of Houston has made two new additions to its women’s volleyball staff. John Klanac joins the team as Director of Operations, having spent the last two years as a volunteer assistant at Buffalo working with outside hitters. The other addition is Blake Peters, who joins the Cougars as a volunteer assistant coach from Austin Juniors, where he served as the head coach of the 14U team for the last 3 years.
Klanac runs a private one-on-one instructional program, and himself won an NCAA title as a player at Ohio State. Peters brings an interesting new wrinkle to the program. He played as part of the SMU men’s club team from 2011-2014 and was a four-year student manager for the SMU women’s team. Platt says she plans to use his abilities in numbers and analytics to help give the program an edge – both in evaluating themselves and their opponents.
Full Press Release, Courtesy Houston Athletics, is below:
HOUSTON — University of Houston Volleyball Head Coach Kaddie Platt announced the additions of director for operations John Klanac and volunteer assistant coach Blake Peters to her staff for the upcoming 2017 season on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are very pleased to welcome John and Blake to the Houston family,” Platt said. “Both bring great energy to our program and will help us with the development of our players and day-to-day aspects as the season draws near.”
JOHN KLANAC
Klanac joins Houston after serving as the volunteer assistant coach at Buffalo for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. With the Bulls, Klanac worked primarily with the outside hitters and was in charge of charting offensive attacks. He also assisted the full-time staff with practice scheduling and day-to-day operations.
He is the owner of JAK Active, a one-on-one instructional program for volleyball players from middle school to college level and is a featured player/camp coach for Powerstation Volleyball Club. He has also served as a camp coach for Ohio State and USA Volleyball.
Klanac played collegiately at Ohio State from 2008-11, where he was a member of the 2011 National Championship team his senior season. He helped the Buckeyes to four Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association titles and four berths in the NCAA postseason with one semifinal appearance and three championship game appearances.
He was a three-time MIVA All-Conference honoree, garnering Second Team honors in 2009 and First Team laurels in 2010 and 2011. For his play during the Buckeye’s 2011 National Championship run, Klanac was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.
At the end of his Buckeye career, he ranked in the top 12 in kills (1,048), service aces (70) and points (1,217.5). Klanac graduated from Ohio State in 2011 with a degree in history.
Following Ohio State, Klanac played professionally overseas for five years. He played for Patriotas de Lares (Lares, Puerto Rico; 2014-15), Stiina Explorari Baia Mare (Baia Mare, Romania; 2014-15), Al Nasser Sports Club (Juffair, Bahrain; 2014), Waremme VBC (Waremme, Belguim; 2013-14), Kokkolan Tiikerit (Kokkola, Finland; 2012-13) and RWE Bottrop (Bottrop, Germany; 2011-12). With Kokkolan Tiikerit, he helped the team win the Mestaruusliiga (Finnish Championship).
Platt on Klanac
“John will be huge for us from a day-to-day aspect,” Platt said. “Behind the scenes, he’ll be an integral part of the coaching staff from assisting with travel, equipment and scheduling. He’s a proven player both collegiately and professionally, and we look forward to what he’ll bring to the table.”
BLAKE PETERS
Peters comes to Houston from Austin Juniors where he’s worked since 2014. He recently served as head coach of the 14U team for three years following a stint as an assistant coach of the 17U team starting in 2014.
Prior to Austin Juniors, Peters served as co-president of SMU Men’s Club Volleyball from 2011-14 while getting his degree in applied mathematics. With the club, he managed and organized all related events of the organization, recruited players, scheduled practices, booked matches and travel as well as handled all business and finances.
Peters was also a four-year student manager for the SMU Women’s Volleyball program.
Platt on Peters
“Blake is very gifted in numbers,” Platt said. “We look forward to being able to use his analysis to help evaluate both our team and that of our opponents. He is very passionate about the sport and eager to learn more about collegiate coaching.”
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