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Cougar Volleyball Camps

Coaching Staff

Damian Elder
Assistant Coach

  • 2019-2022 – College of Charleston
    • Indoor Assistant Coach
  • 2012-2017 – Mercer University
    • Beach/Indoor Head Coach
  • 2011 – College of Charleston
    • Indoor Assistant Coach
  • 2006-10 – University of South Carolina
    • Beach Head Coach | Indoor Associate Head Coach
  • 2004-05 – Stanford University
    • Indoor Volunteer Assistant Coach

Coaching Accolades at Mercer:

  • Beach Volleyball:
    • Ushered in and developed Sand/Beach Volleyball as a varsity sport at Mercer in 2012
      • 4-3 record at ASUN Tournament since 2015
      • Reached double-digit wins in each of the last two seasons
    • Coached three All-ASUN First Team pairs & five ASUN All-Freshman selections
      • Mentored two of nine all-time ASUN student-athletes to earn multiple First Team selections (Tori Penrod, 2014 & 2016; Emily Krogman, 2015 & 2016)
      • Featured speaker at 2016 America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Convention
  • Indoor Volleyball:
    • Ranks fourth in program history in all-time wins
  • Guided the Bears’ to their first winning season in nine years in 2016
    • 15-14 overall record & 7-9 in SoCon play
    • Sixth-most wins in a single season in program history
  • Mentored three All-Conference student-athletes (Two SoCon; One ASUN)
  • Mentored two SoCon/ASUN All-Freshman student-athletes (One SoCon; One ASUN)
  • Recruited & mentored libero/defensive specialist Tori Penrod (2013-16)
    • Top-three in program history in career digs (1,792) & career digs per set (4.17)
  • Recruited & mentored middle blocker Paige Alsten (2015-Present)
    • Program’s single-season record holder in blocks, hitting percentage

Kennedy Pointer
Assistant Coach

Kennedy (Madison) Pointer ’19 enters her first season as an assistant coach with the College of Charleston volleyball program in the fall of 2022.

“I am so excited to have Kennedy join our staff this year,” head coach Jason Kepner said. “She was a great player, student and representative of the College during her years at CofC. Kennedy has always been someone who I thought would be a great coach being a student of the game with a contagious energy. Bringing home an alumna to share her knowledge and passion for our program is going to be a huge advantage.”

Pointer returns to the College following a two-and-a-half-year stint as a teacher spending a year and a half at West Ashley Middle School. She spent the 2021-22 academic year teaching at Lucy Beckham High School in Mt. Pleasant, where she coached volleyball each of the last two seasons.

“I am extremely excited about getting back on CofC’s campus and looking forward to learning from a staff I’m already familiar with,” Pointer said. “Charleston volleyball means the world to me so I am honored to get to recruit more players to this area.”

A native of Evansville, Ind., Pointer starred for the Cougars from 2015 to 2018, finishing her tenure ranked ninth in program history in kills (1,412) and 10th in both total points (1,593.5) and block assists (253). The four-time All-CAA posted at least 300 kills in three of her four seasons at CofC including a career-high 459 in 2018 – a total good for sixth-best on the program’s single-season list during the rally scoring era.

She was recognized as the second AVCA All-American in program history in 2018 with an Honorable Mention nod while also earning All-CAA First Team accolades that season.

Pointer graduated from College of Charleston in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Science in Second Education Cognate. She is married to former Charleston basketball standout Marquise Pointer and resides in Summerville.

Justin Bass
Assistant Coach

College of Charleston volleyball head coach Jason Kepner announced the addition of Justin Bass as an assistant coach Thursday (Feb. 23) afternoon.

Bass comes to Charleston from Newberry where he led a defense that saw two South Atlantic Conference Defensive Players of the Week as well as several individual defensive school records broken. He spent two seasons at Newberry as an assistant helping guide the Wolves to 26 wins.

Prior to Newberry, Bass spent three seasons at North Greenville where the Crusaders won 18 matches each of his first two seasons then went 12-0 and won the Conference Carolinas regular-season championship in Spring 2021. Bass’ spring 2021 defense was one of the best in the country holding opponents to a hitting percentage of .108 – the 8th-best mark in Division II.

Bass also spent one season as the assistant coach at powerhouse Dorman High School in Spartanburg helping lead the program to their 13th state title.

He began his collegiate coaching at USC Upstate in 2016 and spent two seasons with the Spartans coaching a defense that finished 6th in Division I in team digs. The Spartans also made their first ever run to the ASUN Volleyball Tournament semifinals under his watch.

Bass graduated from USC Upstate with degrees in Psychology and Communications.

Lauren Freed
Assistant Coach

Lauren Freed '20 returned to the College of Charleston in July 2023 as a volleyball assistant coach.

Freed returns to the College after spending two years as the head coach of SC Elite Volleyball Club, working specifically with the U14 Team.

Prior to her time with SC Elite, Freed served as an Indoor and Beach Varsity coach for Lucy Beckham High School in Charleston winning the 2021 State Championship. Freed also has coaching experience with the Elite Volleyball Training Center (ages 10-17), Holy City Volleyball (ages 13-17) as well as coaching indoor and volleyball players ages 8-17 during her time as a student-athlete at The College.

Freed also served as a Special Education Teacher at Springfield Elementary and James B. Edwards Elementary in Charleston as well as College Park Elementary in Ladson.

During her time as a student-athlete with Charleston, Freed was named a CAA Offensive Player of the Week twice and CAA Rookie of the Week. Freed also ended her career among the top-20 in multiple statistical categories including attack attempts (12th – 3,235), kills (17th – 1,062), digs (19th – 1,111) and points (19th – 1202.5).

Freed also helped lead the Cougars to the 2017 CAA Regular Season title and first CAA at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, as well as the 2018 NIVC national semifinals.