GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Danielle Marante has been named the new head women's volleyball coach at Tusculum University announced vice president of athletics and university initiatives Doug Jones.
Marante, a four-time NCAA Division II All-American at the University of Tampa, comes to Greeneville after two seasons on the women's volleyball staff at Marshall University. While at the Huntington, West Virginia school she served as the program's recruiting coordinator and mentored two All-Conference USA standouts in Madison Hill and Ciara Debell, along with All-Freshman selection Addisyn Rowe.
"This search produced a quality pool of candidates which really challenged our search committee. Danielle's passion and love for her players and the game really stood out from the very beginning," said Jones. "The success that Danielle had as a student-athlete was also important. Being a four-time All-American says a lot about her competitive drive. I truly believe Danielle is a star in the making and we are very excited to have her with us leading the Tusculum program."
Prior to Marshall, Marante served as the head volleyball coach for the Tampa Preparatory School during the 2016-2017 academic year, while also working with the Tampa Bay One/Rogue Volleyball Club for three years. She also has five years of experience in the education sector and three more in the fitness industry, serving as a personal trainer.
"I feel honored to be selected as Tusculum's head volleyball coach. I want to say thank you to Doug Jones and the entire Tusculum support staff involved in my hiring process and for giving me this opportunity," said Marante. "Everyone that I have met at Tusculum is genuine, supportive, warm, and friendly. I am excited to get started in the gym with this talented group of young ladies. They have so much potential, are focused, and are ready to put in the hard work. I feel very fortunate to get the chance to do something I truly love, and make a positive impact at the same time."
As a student-athlete, she had one of the most successful careers in the history of the Tampa volleyball program, becoming just the fourth player in the history of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) to earn All-America honors four times. She was also an All-Sunshine State Conference selection and an All-Region choice in each of her four seasons with the Spartans and was selected as the 1999 Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year and the 1996 SSC Freshman of the Year.
During her playing career she led the Spartans to four SSC Championships while posting a 52-4 league record (.929) in her four seasons at Tampa. The Spartans also accounted for a 128-17 overall record (.883) which included four trips to the NCAA II Tournament. Tampa finished as national runner-up in 1996 and 1999 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1998.
Marante was the first Tampa student-athlete to be voted the Sunshine State Conference Female Athlete of the Year and is the all-time leader in assists at both Tampa and the SSC, having dished out 6,213 for her career. For her efforts, she was inducted to the University of Tampa Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 2006. She was also named the top player for the SSC Silver Anniversary Team.
She graduated from the University of Tampa with a bachelor's degree in 2000 and later earned her master's degree in education in 2003 from Fayetteville State University.
