University of Mount Olive Men's Volleyball

Heller was named head men's volleyball coach and assistant women's volleyball coach in August 2012. Through his first three years at Mount Olive, Heller has compiled a 52-29 record (.642 winning percentage) as the Trojans posted a winning record each year. Mount Olive went 15-11 in 2015 and advanced to the semifinal round of the Conference Carolinas Championship. During the summer of 2015, Heller was selected as an assistant coach for Team USA in the World University Games at Gwangju, South Korea In his first year, Heller was named 2013 Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year after guiding the Trojans to a 22-6 overall record and a regular season conference title with a 15-1 mark. In 2014, Mount Olive advanced to the championship match of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Before arriving at Mount Olive, Heller spent the previous year in Durham, England, as both a college volleyball coach and a professional volleyball player. He served as head volleyball coach at Durham University and played professionally for Team Durham. Heller previously spent four years as an assistant men's volleyball coach at national power Lewis University (Ill.). Heller earned his bachelor of arts degree in human communications and marketing at Lewis, where he was a member of the Flyers' men's volleyball team. He is currently working on his master's degree in marketing management from Durham University. Updated June 4, 2015

A graduate of the university and alumnus of the program, Yigit Erkek enters his first year as head men's volleyball coach in 2023-24. Erkek returns to the University of Mount Olive after serving as a Graduate Assistant for the men’s volleyball program at the University of Jamestown in North Dakota over the previous two years. During his tenure with Jimmies, he assisted the program in a pair of 20-win campaigns with back-to-back Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championships. The program also made consecutive appearances in pool play at the NAIA National Championship and ranked in the top 10 nationally. Erkek aided in the development of four NAIA All-Americans, two GPAC Player of the Year winners, and 13 GPAC All-Conference selections. Following graduation from UMO, Erkek worked as a Youth Sports Coordinator at the YMCA of the Triangle in Raleigh, North Carolina. He directed the volleyball program for three branches and managed youth athletes ages 5-14. Additionally, Erkek served as a volleyball coach at the NC Volleyball Academy in Durham. He worked with the U14 first team and the U18 second team as an assistant coach. He helped the U18 program qualify for the USAV Girls National Tournament in 2021. Erkek was a four-year member of the UMO men’s volleyball team (2016-2020) and tallied 121.5 points with 73 kills and 68 blocks in 35 career matches. He was also a two-time All-Academic Team selection by the Conference Carolinas. During his time as a student-athlete, Erkek worked as a student assistant and manager for the Mount Olive men’s and women’s tennis teams in 2019. In the summer of 2018, he served as an assistant coach and secretary for the Fenerbahce Sports Club in Izmit, Turkey. Erkek completed his bachelor’s degree in sport management from the University of Mount Olive in 2020 before earning his master’s degree in sports leadership from the University of Jamestown in 2023.