Danijela Tomic - Volleyball Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Oakland

Sep 17 (Wed)

6 p.m.

Danijela Tomic

Title:
Head Volleyball Coach
Email:
dtomic@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-7067

Coach Tomic
Hometown	Catici, Bosnia and Herzegovina
College	Arkansas Little-Rock (1999) Concordia University Irvine (2021)
Coaching History
1997-03	Arkansas Little-Rock, Assistant Coach
2003-04	Louisiana State, Assistant Coach
2005-11	Florida International, Head Coach
2012-pres	Bowling Green, Head Coach
Career Head Coaching Record
2005	Florida International, 15-13
2006	Florida International, 24-8
2007	Florida International, 19-8
2008	Florida International, 28-7
2009	Florida International, 32-4
2010	Florida International, 20-11
2011	Florida International, 20-10
2012	Bowling Green, 22-11
2013	Bowling Green, 14-16
2014	Bowling Green, 7-21
2015	Bowling Green, 7-22
2016	Bowling Green, 21-10
2017	Bowling Green, 17-12
2018	Bowling Green, 19-12
2019	Bowling Green, 20-13
2020-21	Bowling Green, 22-2
2021	Bowling Green, 21-9
2022	Bowling Green, 22-10
2023	Bowling Green, 19-13
2024	Bowling Green, 25-10
Total	20 Years (394-220)

BGSU Head Coach Danijela Tomic completed her 13th year at the helm of the Falcon volleyball program in 2024 and has established her impact on the volleyball program. In her first year with the Falcons, she took the team to heights never reached before, winning a match in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and advancing to the second round. More recently, Coach Tomic was named 2017 MAC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career, after leading the Falcons to its first MAC Regular Season title since 1992 by a league mark of 13-3. She received the award again following the 2020-21 season when the Falcons finished the regular season 20-1 with the MAC Regular Season title, including an 18-match win streak, and a third time in 2024, winning the MAC Regular Season title behind a 16-2 season. In 2024, Tomic added multiple postseason wins to her BGSU resume, advancing to the NIVC Championship and finishing as the runner-up to Arizona in an electric five-set match.

Tomic and the Falcons put together a historic 2024 campaign. Bowling Green finished 25-10 on the season with a 16-2 record, capturing the MAC Championship and finishing as the NIVC Runner-Up for just the second time in program history. The 25 wins of the Falcons marked the most during Tomic’s tenure at the helm of the Falcons while the four NIVC wins were the first time in her BGSU career winning multiple postseason matches.

As a team in 2024, the Falcons set multiple Rally Scoring Era records, including aces in a season (231) and total blocks in a season (335.5). The team also matched the record for solo blocks in a three-set match, registering five against Buffalo on Oct. 17. The 16-2 MAC record matched the records for most MAC wins, best MAC winning percentage and the fewest MAC losses in an 18-match conference season. In totality, 38 individual accolades were added to the record book following the season in either the All-Time or Rally Scoring Eras. Among those including Alexis Mettille breaking the program’s single-season and career hitting percentage records as well as Lauryn Hovey break the Rally Scoring records for single-season and career aces.

In 2023, Tomic and the Falcons advanced to the MAC Tournament Championship for the fifth straight season, the longest streak in the MAC since Ohio went to eight consecutive from 2003-2010. During the regular season, BGSU swept Michigan in a home-and-home, claiming both matches in 3-2 finals. Bowling Green won 10 of their final 11 matches in the regular season, taking momentum into the MAC Tournament, topping No. 3 Ball State (3-2) and No.2 Buffalo (3-0) before falling to No. 1 Western Michigan in five sets in the championship. For the Falcons, Lauryn Hovey was named All-MAC First Team while Kat Mandly earned All-MAC Second Team.

In 2022, Tomic and the Falcons returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons, capturing a MAC Tournament victory. The Orange and Brown concluded the season with a record of 22-10, including wins over Tennessee and Mississippi State, who were both receiving votes in the national polls at the time of each respective match. At the conclusion of the season, Petra Indrova was named the MAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season while Lauryn Hovey was named the MAC Freshman of the Year. Indrova and Hovey were both named All-MAC First Team. Hovey was also named to the MAC All-Freshman Team with Jessica Andrews. Andrews was also named to the All-MAC Second Team.

Tomic guided the Falcons to a 21-9 record in 2021, the program's third consecutive season with 20 or more wins. Under Tomic, the program has five 20-win seasons. Her first victory of the season, a 3-1 win over Butler, was the 150th win of her career at Bowling Green. That match also featured Katie Kidwell's 444th career block assist, setting a new program record. The Falcons opened MAC play with 11 straight wins, garnering a spectacular 33-3 set record. In the first home MAC match of the season, Bowling Green swept Buffalo for Tomic's 100th career MAC victory. BGSU finished with a perfect 10-0 record at home, just the second undefeated home season in program history. The Falcons also captured the MAC East Division regular season title for the fourth time in five seasons and advanced to the MAC Tournament Championship for the third consecutive year.

The 2021 campaign also featured Bowling Green volleyball's first AVCA All-American, Petra Indrova. Indrova, who was also named MAC Player of the Year, earned Honorable Mention All-American. She was one of several Falcons to earn postseason accolades, including MAC Defensive Player of the Year Julia Walz, All-MAC selections Katelyn Meyer and Hanna Laube, and All-MAC Freshmen Team member Kat Mandly. Meyer's All-MAC First Team honor was the fourth of her career, making her the first player in program history to earn All-MAC First Team four times. Additionally, BGSU landed a conference-best ten student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC list. Hanna Laube led the way with a 4.0 GPA, one of five MAC volleyball student-athletes to earn a 4.0. She was also named Third Team CoSIDA All-American.

The 2020-21 campaign for the Falcons saw the program return to the NCAA Tournament following the victories in the MAC Tournament and the MAC Regular season. In total, the Orange and Brown concluded the season with a 22-2 record, marking the second consecutive 20-win second for the program. The season saw an 18-0 start, marking the best start to a season in BGSU Athletic department history while also breaking the record for most consecutive wins in program history. The Falcons also saw Katelyn Meyer, Petra Indrova and Hanna Laube being named All-MAC First Team with Katie Kidwell being named to the Second Team. In addition to her First Team honor, Laube earned MAC Setter of the Year. As for the MAC Tournament, Meyer was named the MVP with Indrova and Jacqueline Askin being named to the All-Tournament Team as well.

The 2019 season for the Falcons saw the first 20-win season for the Orange and Brown since 2016 as Bowling Green made a postseason run in the NIVC Tournament, claiming a first round victory over Purdue Fort Wayne, marking the program's first postseason win since 2012. The Falcons finished the season with a 20-13 record, including being 11-5 in MAC play. At the end of the regular season, Katelyn Meyer was named to the All-MAC First Team while Meyer and Isabelle Marciniak were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team. Additionally, multiple Falcons etched their names in the record book over the course of the season.

During the 2018 season, the Falcons captured the second of back-to-back MAC Regular Season titles under Tomic, posting a 19-12 record, including a second consecutive 13-3 MAC season. At the conclusion of the season, Libero Kallie Seimet accomplished back-to-back MAC Defensive Player of the Year awards, as well as being named MAC Player of the Year 2017 and 2018, becoming the first athlete in MAC history to do so. Additionally, Katie Kidwell was named to the All-MAC First Team for the second time in as many seasons. Katelyn Meyer was also named to the All-MAC First Team, as well as the All-MAC Freshman Team.

In its historic run in the 2017 campaign, the Bowling Green volleyball squad featured numerous notable wins and awards, including its first win over Miami since 2013, first win at Ohio since 2001, as well as its first win at Western Michigan since 1995. Individually, Tomic's team also received six different All-MAC honors by four different players as well as nine of the season's 12 MAC Defensive Player of the Week awards. Overcoming several odds, the Falcons were voted by league coaches to finish fifth overall in the East Division in the 2017 MAC preseason poll, before they earned the MAC Regular Season title by a record of 13-3, and an invite into the NIVC Tournament by finishing the season with a record of 17-12.

In the last few seasons, Tomic has also developed a Bowling Green program that has earned every MAC individual postseason award including 2021 MAC Player of the Year (Petra Indrova), 2021 MAC Defensive Player of the Year (Julia Walz), 2020-21 MAC Setter of the Year (Hanna Laube), 2018 and 2017 MAC Player of the Year (Kallie Seimet), 2016 MAC Freshman of the Year (Isabelle Marciniak), 2016 MAC Setter of the Year (Isabelle Marciniak), and back-to-back-to-back MAC Defensive Player of the Years (2016 – Madeline Garda, 2017, 2018 – Kallie Seimet,).

In her first season with BGSU, Tomic also guided a 2012 team to a second-place finish in the Mid-American Conference regular season and then took the program on a magical run through the MAC Tournament that included five set victories in both the semifinals and championship matches. BGSU went on to face Yale in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and earned yet another five-set win, before succumbing to No. 1-ranked Penn State in the second round.

Tomic has posted a career record of 328-187 during a 17-year career that also includes seven seasons as the head coach at Florida International prior to her arrival at Bowling Green.

BGSU has become a determined and tough-minded team under Tomic, winning 10 consecutive five-set matches at one point – three of which came during that 2012 postseason run. In 2013, the team earned a huge five-set victory over No. 13 BYU – the first win over a ranked opponent in program history. Over the course of five years, BGSU has a 26-16 record in five-set matches under Tomic.

In her first five years at BGSU, Tomic’s teams compiled an array of awards, including six first-team all-conference honors, a second-team all-conference honoree, three All-MAC Honorable Mention recipient, two MAC All-Freshman team selections, three members of the MAC All-Tournament Team, the MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, 24 MAC Player of the Week honors, four MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards and one MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete.

Academically, the program has excelled under Tomic. The team earned public recognition by the NCAA for an APR rate that ranks among the top-10 percent in the country in the sport of volleyball. 34 Falcons have been named either Academic All-MAC or honorable mention Academic All-MAC in five years. As well, Lindsey Butterfield (2012) and Laura Avila (2013) were both named to the first-team Academic All-District Team, while Erica Fullenkamp (2014) also earned second-team Academic All-District accolades. Finally, the program has earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for 22 consecutive seasons – the second-longest streak in the country.

Prior to her arrival at Bowling Green, Tomic was a three-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year at Florida International. In seven years as head coach at FIU, she had a record of 158-61.

A 1999 graduate of Arkansas-Little Rock, Tomic was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2006, 2008, and 2009, guiding the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament in each of those last two seasons. The 2009 team set a program record by going 32-4, which included a 17-0 mark in conference play.

Tomic took over at FIU in 2005 and made an immediate impact as her team improved by 12 wins over the previous season and reached the SBC Tournament as the No. 6 seed after missing out in two of the previous three years before her arrival.

In seven years at FIU, her players earned six AVCA All-American awards, two Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors, and 24 All-Sun Belt Conference awards. Under her tutelage, one student-athlete was named AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year.

Tomic also demands well-rounded student-athletes as her team earned the Dr. Paul D. Gallagher Community Service Award in 2008, presented to the FIU team that has gone the extra mile in performing community service throughout the year. She had 20 selections to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List (grade point average of 3.5 or better) and 27 selections to the Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll.

Prior to her time at FIU, Tomic was an assistant coach at LSU during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Before that, she spent six years as an assistant coach at her alma mater UALR from 1997-03. She played at UALR from 1995-97 as an outside hitter, right side hitter, and setter, helping to lead the team to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. She was named Most Valuable Player of the SBC Tournament that year and recorded a tournament record 32 digs during the championship match in 1996.

A graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy in 2013, Tomic is also a member of The Alliance of Women Coaches.

A native of Catici, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tomic graduated from UALR in 1999 with a degree in health education. Tomic graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master's in Coaching and Athletics Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2021.