Two major coaching openings were filled recently when Georgia hired Tom Black away from Loyola Marymount and Arizona State stayed in house and promoted assistant coach Sanja Tomasevic.
That leaves Division I openings that include LMU, Manhattan, Virginia Tech, Delaware, Indiana State, Stetson, Stony Brook, Montana, Middle Tennessee and Texas-Arlington.
Georgia gets in Black a successful coach who served as one of Karch Kiraly’s assistants the past Olympiad with the USA women’s national team.
In seven seasons at LMU, Black had a 127-86 overall record and got LMU to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the round of 16 in 2015.
He replaced Lizzie Stemke, whose program had some tough times of late. Georgia was 13-18 this season, 1-17 in the Southeastern Conference, which followed an 0-18 SEC mark in 2015.
Georgia’s news release had this from Kiraly:
“A huge congratulations to Tom and to the University of Georgia women’s volleyball program. Tom has played a pivotal role in the development and success of our USA Women’s Team since he joined our staff in 2013, especially through his program-wide focus on learning and growth. We’ll miss him, and we wish him great luck!”
Tomasevic, a former star at Washington when the Huskies won the 2005 NCAA title, has been at ASU since she was hired by former head coach Stevie Mussie. Mussie went 12-20, 5-15 in the Pac-12, in her only season with the Sun Devils when the school abruptly fired her immediately after the season ended.
On November 27, ASU released this statement from athletic director Ray Anderson:
“Sun Devil Volleyball Coach Stevie Mussie is no longer with the program. We will launch a national search immediately for her successor. Sanja Tomasevic will act as interim head indoor volleyball coach with Brad Keenan continuing to serve as head beach volleyball coach.”
Tomasevic was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for ASU’s indoor program in 2016.
“Sanja is the right choice at the right time to lead our indoor volleyball program to sustainable success,” Anderson said. “I am confident she will build a culture of excellence and integrity, and provide an environment in which our student athletes will truly thrive.”
Manhattan’s Mark Jones resigned after eight seasons.
Stetson’s opening was created when the school decided to separate the indoor and beach programs. Coach Kristina Hernandez is going strictly beach.
Montana’s Brian Doyon resigned after two seasons.
Delaware fired head coach Bonnie Kenny and assistant Cindy Gregory in the middle of their 15th season in October and put Brian Toron and Dana Griskowitz in charge.
Virginia Tech’s Chris Riley left after 11 seasons.
Stony Brook fired Coley Pawlikowski after four seasons.
Indiana State fired Traci Dahl-Skinner after nine seasons.
Middle Tennessee had an early season change when Dan Ahiers resigned in September of his first season and the school and made Jeff Huebner interim head coach.
And at Texas-Arlington, a replacement has yet to be found for the only coach the program has ever had after Diane Seymour resigned after 30 years.
In Division II, Northern Michigan hired Rashinda Reed. Most recently, she had been an assistant at UAB.
