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Emmanuel stayed within its own athletics department to find its next men’s volleyball head coach.
The Conference Carolinas school announced during the weekend that it promoted former assistant coach Chad Nelson to be its new head coach for the upcoming season.
“We are extremely excited for Chad to join the EC athletic department and men’s volleyball program,” athletics director Nate Moorman said in a statement. “His years of experience, passion for the sport, and dedication to building character-driven championship athletes make him a perfect fit for the job and institution.”
Nelson arrived to Emmanuel last year for the team’s inaugural season in the Conference Carolinas. The Lions in a midst of a three-year transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II ended the 2015 season at 4-19 and did not qualify for the eight-team Conference Carolinals Tournament.
Along with his one-year assistant coaching stint at Emmanuel, Nelson has more than a decade of college coaching experience including being the head coach for the Illinois College women’s volleyball from 2008-11. He also served as a volunteer assistant coach for both the Iowa women’s volleyball team and the Illinois State women’s volleyball team.
The Lions for the upcoming season return a majority of starters, including outside attacker Alex Barbosa. Barbosa last season led Emmanuel and was in the top 10 of the Conference Carolinas with a 3.05 kills per game average.
“I am ready to get started with this group of guys,” Nelson said in a statement. “We have a lot of work to do, but the journey we have in front of us is going to be a great one.”
Nelson replaces former Emmanuel head coach Jason Farr, who resigned in the off-season to become a sports information director at Hannibal-LaGrange.