Peppler, Mary Jo
Volleyball
b. 1944, Rockford, IL
The 6-foot, 155-pound Peppler was America's first world-class woman volleyball player. As a high school senior in 1962, she played for the Long Beach Shamrocks, who won the national championship. She then helped organize the Los Angeles Renegades, who won the 1964 title.
Peppler played on the U. S. Olympic volleyball teams in 1964 and 1968 and competed with the national team at the 1970 world championships in Bulgaria, where she was voted the best female player in the world.
After moving to Texas, Peppler organized and became player-coach of the E Pluribus Unum team of Houston, which won national championships in 1972 and 1973. However, her independent attitude wasn't appreciated by the sport's authorities and she was told she wouldn't be allowed to try out for the 1976 Olympic team. The director of the U. S. Volleyball Association explained, "She's a gifted athlete who can't be handled."
When the International Volleyball Association was organized in 1974, Peppler played for its El Paso-Juarez team. The IVA was the first attempt to organize a professional co-ed sport, with four men and two women on each team. It folded after one season.
Peppler won $49,600 in television's Women's Supersports competition in 1976, finishing ahead of basketball player Karen Logan and diver Micki King.
She has written several books about the sport and is currently director of coaching for Coast Volleyball in San Diego, California.