TicketsUniversity of Cincinnati Director of Athletics John Cunningham announced on Dec. 23, 2024, the hire of Danijela Tomić as the Bearcats' head volleyball coach, making her the 13th head coach in program history.
Tomić came to UC from Bowling Green, where she served as head coach for 13 seasons. She also spent seven seasons as head coach of Florida International. Her record as an NCAA head coach stands at 394-222 (.640) prior to her tenure at Cincinnati.
Overall, she has guided her teams to five NCAA Tournament appearances and seen her players collect nine All-America honors. Tomić is a six-time conference coach of the year.
In her debut season leading the Bearcats in 2025, Tomić guided Cincinnati to 15 wins, the program's most since 2021, and seven Big 12 victories, a two-win improvement over the previous conference-season high. Her squad set a program record for the highest three-set total score in school history (80 points) in a win over Alabama on Sept. 6, and posted the second-most solo blocks in a season in program history (65). Cincinnati closed the year ranked third in the Big 12 in hitting percentage. Under Tomić, the Bearcats produced their first-ever season with two All-Big 12 selections, as Sydney Nolan earned First Team All-Big 12 honors — the program's first First Team selection — and Carly Glendinning was named Second Team All-Big 12. Nolan also became the first Bearcat AVCA All-Region selection since 2019. Tomić now enters her second season at the helm in 2026.
In 13 seasons as head coach at BGSU, she led the Falcons to five MAC regular-season titles, three MAC Tournament championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program's first NCAA Tournament win in 2012. She was named MAC Coach of the Year three times at Bowling Green, most recently winning the honor in 2024.
Under her leadership, the Falcons secured seven 20-win seasons, reached the MAC Tournament Championship match five consecutive years (2019-2023), and set program records for winning streaks and overall performance.
Tomić's teams earned All-MAC recognition in each of her 13 seasons at Bowling Green, including at least one All-MAC First Team honoree in nine consecutive years, and posted five straight seasons with an All-Region member.
In 2024, Tomić led the Falcons to 25 victories, the highest single-season total during her tenure, and guided the team to an NIVC runner-up finish. Bowling Green also captured the MAC regular-season title with a 16-2 conference record, tied for the second-most MAC wins in program history during an 18-match schedule.
Under her guidance, Bowling Green produced two AVCA All-Americans — Lauryn Hovey, an Honorable Mention in 2024, and Petra Indrova, who earned Honorable Mention honors in both 2021 and 2022.
She led BGSU to back-to-back MAC regular-season titles in 2017 and 2018 as well as 2020-21 and 2022.
During the 2020-21 season, the program saw an 18-0 start in MAC play, marking the best conference start in both MAC and BGSU Athletics history.
In 2012, she guided the Falcons to a MAC Tournament title and an NCAA appearance in her first season at BGSU.
Prior to her arrival at Bowling Green, Tomić was a three-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year at Florida International. In seven years as head coach at FIU, she compiled a record of 158-61 (.721).
A 1999 graduate of Arkansas-Little Rock, Tomić 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.
Tomić 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.
Tomić 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.