Elder Named Mercer Volleyball Coach

MACON, Ga. –Mercer University has selected Damian Elder as the new head volleyball coach in an announcement made by Director of Athletics Jim Cole on Tuesday.

"We are extremely pleased to add Coach Elder to the Mercer family," Cole said.  "He brings over a decade of top-level hardwood coaching experience and has proven the ability to build a successful sand volleyball program. I'm confident we have found the right man to lead our program going forward."

Elder assumes his first head coaching role after spending 11 years as either an assistant or an associate coach in some of the nation's elite conferences.  In three coaching stops prior to Mercer, Elder has coached in the Pacific-12, the Southeastern Conference and the Southern Conference.

Most recently, Elder was an assistant at the College of Charleston in 2011.  At Charleston, he helped guide the Cougars to a 25-10 (14-2 SoCon) record and a runner-up finish in the 2011 SoCon Championship.

Before his stint in Charleston, Elder spent five seasons as the associate head coach at South Carolina.  His teams at South Carolina racked up 71 wins over that time, including posting a program-record 21 victories in 2002.

During his time at South Carolina, the school fielded its first competitive sand volleyball team.  Elder assumed responsibility of the sand program, instituting the first sand training program and first SEC sand camp before leading the team to the SEC Beach Championship title in 2009.

Elder got his start in Division I volleyball at Stanford, spending two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the Cardinal.  In his first season at Stanford, the team captured the 2004 NCAA Division I National Championship.

A 2002 graduate of Fresno State, Elder is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Arts in Teaching from The Citadel.