GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University head women's volleyball coach Danielle Marante has announced she will be stepping down to accept another coaching opportunity according to TU director of athletics Josh Ealy on Thursday.

Marante has indicated she will be accepting a similar post at a NCAA Division I program which will be announced this week by that institution.

Ealy also announced that current assistant coach Jason Morris will serve as interim coach for the indoor women's program. Morris, who has been on the TU coaching staff since 2019, is entering his fourth season as head coach of the successful TU women's beach program.

Marante guided the Pioneers to the South Atlantic Conference postseason in each of her five campaigns, capped off by the programs first SAC Tournament title this past fall.

She led Tusculum to a 73-43 overall record including a sizzling 56-25 mark in conference play. Her 73 wins are the fourth-most in the storied history of the program while her .629 winning percentage is listed fifth-best in the TU record book. She led the Pioneers to a pair of 20-win seasons and two trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and 2023.

"I want to thank Danielle for her five years of service to Tusculum and our women's volleyball team. She has built our program into a conference and regional contender," said Ealy. "She will be greatly missed in our athletic department, but I am excited for her in this next chapter of her career."

Marante mentored 15 All-Conference selections, five All-Region performers and three All-Americans. She also coached six SAC All-Freshman honorees including 2019 SAC and Region Freshman of the Year Emiah Burrowes.

In 2021, she led the Pioneers to a 20-6 record including 15-3 in league play to earn the program its first SAC Championship trophy. Burrowes was named SAC Player of the Year and was joined by teammate Carly Sosnowski as All-American honorees. TU earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament. For her efforts, Marante was named the SAC Coach of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Southeast Region Coach of the Year.

This past season (2023), Marante and the Pioneers caught fire late in the year, winning their final seven regular-season matches and finished third in the conference with a 15-3 SAC record. TU stayed hot in the SAC postseason winning a five-set thriller over Catawba in the quarterfinal round and followed with upset wins over No. 2 seed Anderson and a 3-1 victory over top-seed Wingate in the championship match. Three Pioneers earned SAC All-Tournament honors including Burrowes who was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player. TU punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years and ended the season with a 22-7 record.

"I am forever grateful to the Tusculum administration and staff who gave me the opportunity to be the head coach of the women's volleyball program," said Marante. If you have been a part of Tusculum, you know it is truly a family. I am also so incredibly proud of all of the student-athletes who have come through the program over the past five years. They bought into building the program, creating a winning culture and made it into the contender it is today."

A four-time NCAA II All-American at the University of Tampa, Marante came to Greeneville after two seasons on the women's volleyball staff at Marshall University where she served as the program's recruiting coordinator.

During her playing career, she led the Spartans to four SSC Championships, 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. 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.