Sanja Tomašević (born June 3, 1980) is a Serbian-American retired volleyball player and was the head coach of Arizona State women's volleyball team from 2017–2022.

Sanja Tomašević
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamArizona State
ConferencePac-12
Record74–104 (.416)
Biographical details
Born (1980-06-03) June 3, 1980 (age 44)
Serbia
Playing career
1996–1997Serbia OK Jedinstvo Užice
1998–2002Serbia Radnički Beograd
2002–2005United States University of Washington
2005–2006Puerto Rico Vaqueras de Bayamón
2007South Korea Suwon Hyundai E&G Green Fox
2008Switzerland Volero Zurich
2008–2010Greece Panathinaikos
2010–2011Azerbaijan VK Baki
2011–2012Italy Infotel Forlì
2012Italy Pomì Casalmaggior
Position(s)Outside hitter/Opposite
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2012–2013UTSA (Assistant/Recruiting Coordinator)
2014–2015Miami (Assistant)
2016Arizona State (Assistant/Interim HC)
2017–2022Arizona State

Personal life

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Tomašević is a native of Serbia. She obtained her U.S. nationality in March 2021.[1]

Playing career

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Tomašević played professional volleyball in Serbia before joining the University of Washington Huskies volleyball team. At the end of her career, she was a two-time All-American and the 2005 Asics and CVU.com National Player of the Year. She led the Huskies to four NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2005 NCAA national championship, and two Pac-10 conference titles. Additionally, she was named the conference Player of the Year in 2005. She ended her collegiate career as Washington's all-time leader in points (2,159.5), kills (1,795) and service aces (156). She is one of only five players in Huskies history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.[2] She graduated from Washington in 2006 with a degree in communications.

In October 2016, Tomašević became just the second individual volleyball player to be inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame.[3]

Following her playing career at Washington, she played professional volleyball in several countries including Greece, Puerto Rico, Italy, Azerbaijan, and Switzerland.

Coaching career

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Tomašević began collegiate coaching at University of Texas-San Antonio in 2012. In her first season as the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator, she helped the Roadrunners to a 21-9 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Western Athletic Conference. UTSA, which tied for second in the league standings, advanced to the WAC Tournament semifinals.[4]

After spending two season at UTSA, she was named the assistant coach for the Miami Hurricane's women's volleyball team in 2014. She helped the Hurricanes reach the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season in 2014. The Hurricanes, who finished the season 22-9, reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 8 Florida in four sets. She was also credited with the development of All-Americans and All-Conference players on the team.[5]

Prior to being named head coach of Arizona State in December 2016, she served as a recruiting coordinator and interim head coach for the team.

Following the conclusion of the 2022 season, Arizona State announced that per mutual agreement, Tomašević stepped down as the head coach.[6]

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Arizona State Sun Devils (Pac-12 Conference) (2017–2022)
2017 Arizona State 10–22 0–20 12th
2018 Arizona State 14–18 5–15 11th
2019 Arizona State 17–14 9–11 8th
2020 Arizona State 6–14 6–14 9th
2021 Arizona State 14–17 7–13 9th
2022 Arizona State 13–19 7–13 9th
Arizona State: 74–104 (.416) 34–86 (.283)
Total: 74–104 (.416)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

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References

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  1. ^ "ASU volleyball coach Sanja Tomasevic becomes U.S. citizen".
  2. ^ "ASU Sun Devils Coaching Profile".
  3. ^ "UW Announces 2016 Husky Hall of Fame Class".
  4. ^ "UTSA Coaching Profile".
  5. ^ "Miami Hurricanes Profile".
  6. ^ "ASU Volleyball: Tomasevic and Arizona State part ways".