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  Peterson Gym Location in San Diego  Peterson Gym Location in California  Peterson Gym Location in the United States | |
| Address | 5340 55th Street |
|---|---|
| Location | San Diego, California |
| Coordinates | 32°46′27″N117°04′36″W / 32.7742°N 117.0768°W Coordinates: 32°46′27″N117°04′36″W / 32.7742°N 117.0768°W |
| Owner | San Diego State University |
| Operator | San Diego State University Associated Students |
| Capacity | 3,668 |
| Opened | May 1961 |
| Tenants | |
| San Diego State Aztecs (NCAA) (1961–pres.) San Diego Conquistadors (ABA) (1972–1973) | |
Peterson Gym is a 3,668 seat multi-purpose arena in San Diego, California on the campus of San Diego State University. The gym opened in 1961. It was home to the San Diego State University Aztecs basketball teams until Cox Arena (now known as the Viejas Arena) opened in 1997. The facility is named after C.E. Peterson, who during his 37-year career at San Diego State University served as athletic director, football coach, track coach, basketball coach, Dean of Men and alumni executive secretary. Peterson Gym is currently the home of the San Diego State Aztecs women's volleyball team.
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a multitude of spectators.
San Diego is a city in the U.S. state of California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,425,976 as of July 1, 2018, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the U.S. and a bordering country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.
California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents across a total area of about 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.
In 1972–73, Peterson Gym was home of the American Basketball Association (ABA)'s San Diego Conquistadors. [1] The Conquistadors were coached by Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and Boston Celtics great K.C. Jones. [2] The team finished with a 30–54 record. Following the season, the team switched its home arena to the San Diego Sports Arena. [3]
The original American Basketball Association (ABA) was a men's professional basketball league, from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to several teams joining the National Basketball Association and to the introduction of the 3-point shot in the NBA in 1979.
The Boston Celtics are an American professional basketball team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of the league's original eight teams, the team play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Boston Bruins. The Celtics are regarded as the most successful basketball team in NBA history; the franchise has won the most championships in the NBA with 17, accounting for 23.9 percent of all NBA championships since the league's founding.
The gym hosted the 1973 NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament, where the San Diego State Aztecs men's volleyball team won the university's first (and to-date only) NCAA Division I National Championship in any sport.
The 1973 NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament was the fourth annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college volleyball. The tournament took place at Peterson Gym on the campus of San Diego State University in San Diego, California. Like the previous year, the format of this championship consisted of a preliminary, four-team round robin to determine seeding for a subsequent single-elimination tournament. The round-robin seeding games were played on Friday, May 25th at Peterson Gym on the San Diego State campus. The semi-final and championship matches were held at the San Diego Sports Arena on Saturday, May 26th.
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with larger budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
Today, Peterson Gym also contains multiple classrooms for lectures.
