September 11, 2025 • 8 mins
Danijela Tomić has her team off to a 5-1 start. The UC Volleyball Head Coach joined us on ESPN1530.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fun event last night at Fifth Third Arena, the volleyball
version of the Crosstown Shootout, Cincinnati taking on Xavier, the
Bearcats winning that in three sets. The Danielle Tomach Era
is off to a very good start at the University
of Cincinnati. The Bearcats are five and one. They will
head to Normal, Illinois for two matches on Friday and Saturday,
(00:23):
taking on Illinois on Friday afternoon, then Illinois State on
Saturday afternoon. They're back at home. It's going to be
a home match against West Virginia Big Twelve match at
Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, September the twenty seventh. The
head coach of the UC volleyball program, and we'll call
her a friend of the show because she's been on
a few times. Danielle tomach is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Coach.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Congratulations not only on the win last night, but career
victory three hundred and ninety nine.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Thank you for joining us. How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Oh, thank you so much. Sam, I'm doing well. Thank
you for having me today on the cold.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
What was it like getting your first taste of the
Cincinnati Xavier rivalry?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Oh, it was it was phenomenal. I thought for a
Tuesday night. We had two two and eight people in attendance.
The students section was packed and loud, and our team
showed up and we played well and beat Xavier in three.
(01:24):
So it was a great evening and a great first
experience for me for the Queen City Classic as we
call it. I know that in basketball they have a
different name, but yeah, it was. It was a great match,
great just a great for the game and for the
city to see two good teams. Xavier was undefeated before
(01:45):
they came last night to fifth third, so it was
a great win for us.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It's early, you've played six matches, you've won five. What
do you like most about your team?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
A lot of things I love about our team. I love,
first of all, I love our players, how open and
receptive they have been to me and the coaching staff,
and the change. The change is uncomfortable for everybody, but
they've been just open and willing to try new things.
We have established a little bit different system of play.
(02:19):
And then the mindset that you're asking them to develop,
the values that our program is built on. I'm seeing
those those values and ethos that we've been building in
action more and more we're getting We're getting better in volleyball.
I think we can be very good. We have a
strong offense, our defense is getting better and better. We're
(02:42):
actually leading the Big twelve in bigs. We had another
good defensive night. We had eight box two Xavier's zero,
so a lot of improvement. But I've been telling people
they asked me a similar question. I love the resilience
that you're building, the mental toughness, and and just the
unity that you can see on the core that our
(03:03):
team is just playing a really good team volleyball. That's
that's what excites me.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
It's got to help to have a player like Sidney Nolan,
obviously a young lady that we're all familiar with here
because of her time in Northern Kentucky at Notre Dame Academy,
Big twelve Player of the Week. When you're building a
program and you're string, you're you're trying to instill culture
and get your kids to do things your way, Well,
that's that's a nice piece to have to kind of
build everything around.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Correct it is it is Sydney is. I mean, she's
a great player and she's going to get better and better.
I think the sky is the ceiling for Sydney and
I was. We were so happy to get the news
yesterday that she was awarded the Offensive Player of the
Week in the Big Twelve. This was the first one
(03:51):
for any player, the Cincinnati player and the since we've
joined at the Big Twelve, so it's a big deal
and the first one for for Sydney. She had a
phenomenal weekend in Chattanooga, was the MVP of that tournament,
and she's just getting better and better. But what makes
Sydney also special. Yes, everybody can see that talent and
(04:12):
how good she is on the net and kills that
she gets for us, but she's a great teammate. She
plays for the team. There's you know, Sydney is not
about Sydney. She just wants to be the best for
the team. And when you have that combination, the talent
and that mindset and being a great teammate, you know
(04:32):
you have something special. But Sidney also knows, and she
when we shared the news about the award yesterday and
our team chat, she she said, you know, she couldn't
do this without her teammates, and that just speaks speaks
about her. And it's wonderful when you have your best player,
one of your best players being that example of humility
(04:55):
and Sydney has that.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Daniel Otomachs where there's the head coach of the volleyball
program five and one after last night's victory over Xavier.
Before you play in the Big Twelve, you play in tournaments,
multi day multi team events mentioned you'll play in one
in normal Illinois. Uh do you How do you go
about selecting which event you're going to play in or
(05:18):
is that process done for you?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I do scheduling. Actually I've done always my whole career,
which is good. I know some other sports it's out
of the coach's hands. I'm glad that I can. I
can schedule that. It's getting harder and harder because everybody
is looking for the opponents that spits where their team
(05:42):
is that. So you want to have a good combination
of non conference opponents where you want those teams to
be successful in their conferences. You don't want to play
teams that will lose a lot because that hurts you
in the long run. If you have a hopefully what
you're playing for is getting at large bed in the
Big Twelve. The committee, the selection committee will look at
(06:05):
a body of work of our whole season and there's
a formula that they have to follow, and scheduling is
very very important. There's an RPI which is ranking for volleyball,
and we are looking to play teams in one hundred
and fifty, maybe some in top twenty five, but we
(06:26):
want to have a good mix of wins, and if
you lose, it needs to be able to consider a
good loss. So for us, the only loss this year
we have is to Michigan, and I think that's not
a bad loss because Michigan will do well. They'll be
in the top half of the Big ten, so it's
not going to hurt us as much as let's say,
if you lose to somebody who is in one hundred
(06:47):
and fifty, we lose to them and then they lose
in their conference. So there's a little bit of art
and science. You have to look at RPIs and kind
of guess what those teams are going to look like
year based on the success in the previous year.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Makes makes sense, normal Illinois makes Yeah, yes, it makes now.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
If you asked me to re explain it, no chance,
But you explaining it to me makes makes total sense.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah. Yes, you basically want to win. If you want
to win, right, but then if you lose, it has
to be a good loss.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
You know what that that applies, That applies to every sport,
no question about it. Congratulations, I will congratulations. I will
issue you congratulations in advance for a career win number
four hundred. I know you're not even going to think
about how you're going to celebrate it, what you're going
to do. Hopefully it happens on Friday, but it's going
to happen, and it's a heck of a milestone.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
And it's cool that it's happening at U see.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Thank you, thank you. I actually didn't even know I
heard this morning somebody I saw on social media or
somebody told me. I have no idea. I said in
my press conference when I was hired at Cincinnati, I
really do not pay attention to that. I teach our
players to surrender the outcome and if you know, hopefully
I will reach four hundreds win, and I am also
(08:09):
glad that it's going to happen at Cincinnati, no.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Question about it. Can't thank you enough. I always enjoy
having the coach. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Let's pack the fifth third on the twenty seventh, when
we have our first Big twelve match here, so I
hope to see a lot of Bearcats fans.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
That's September the twenty seventh against West Virginia. We'll do it, coach,
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Bye.
Fun event last night at Fifth Third Arena, the volleyball
version of the Crosstown Shootout, Cincinnati taking on Xavier, the
Bearcats winning that in three sets. The Danielle Tomach Era
is off to a very good start at the University
of Cincinnati. The Bearcats are five and one. They will
head to Normal, Illinois for two matches on Friday and Saturday,
(00:23):
taking on Illinois on Friday afternoon, then Illinois State on
Saturday afternoon. They're back at home. It's going to be
a home match against West Virginia Big Twelve match at
Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, September the twenty seventh. The
head coach of the UC volleyball program, and we'll call
her a friend of the show because she's been on
a few times. Danielle tomach is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Coach.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Congratulations not only on the win last night, but career
victory three hundred and ninety nine.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Thank you for joining us. How are you?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Oh, thank you so much. Sam, I'm doing well. Thank
you for having me today on the cold.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
What was it like getting your first taste of the
Cincinnati Xavier rivalry?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Oh, it was it was phenomenal. I thought for a
Tuesday night. We had two two and eight people in attendance.
The students section was packed and loud, and our team
showed up and we played well and beat Xavier in three.
(01:24):
So it was a great evening and a great first
experience for me for the Queen City Classic as we
call it. I know that in basketball they have a
different name, but yeah, it was. It was a great match,
great just a great for the game and for the
city to see two good teams. Xavier was undefeated before
(01:45):
they came last night to fifth third, so it was
a great win for us.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
It's early, you've played six matches, you've won five. What
do you like most about your team?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
A lot of things I love about our team. I love,
first of all, I love our players, how open and
receptive they have been to me and the coaching staff,
and the change. The change is uncomfortable for everybody, but
they've been just open and willing to try new things.
We have established a little bit different system of play.
(02:19):
And then the mindset that you're asking them to develop,
the values that our program is built on. I'm seeing
those those values and ethos that we've been building in
action more and more we're getting We're getting better in volleyball.
I think we can be very good. We have a
strong offense, our defense is getting better and better. We're
(02:42):
actually leading the Big twelve in bigs. We had another
good defensive night. We had eight box two Xavier's zero,
so a lot of improvement. But I've been telling people
they asked me a similar question. I love the resilience
that you're building, the mental toughness, and and just the
unity that you can see on the core that our
(03:03):
team is just playing a really good team volleyball. That's
that's what excites me.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
It's got to help to have a player like Sidney Nolan,
obviously a young lady that we're all familiar with here
because of her time in Northern Kentucky at Notre Dame Academy,
Big twelve Player of the Week. When you're building a
program and you're string, you're you're trying to instill culture
and get your kids to do things your way, Well,
that's that's a nice piece to have to kind of
build everything around.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Correct it is it is Sydney is. I mean, she's
a great player and she's going to get better and better.
I think the sky is the ceiling for Sydney and
I was. We were so happy to get the news
yesterday that she was awarded the Offensive Player of the
Week in the Big Twelve. This was the first one
(03:51):
for any player, the Cincinnati player and the since we've
joined at the Big Twelve, so it's a big deal
and the first one for for Sydney. She had a
phenomenal weekend in Chattanooga, was the MVP of that tournament,
and she's just getting better and better. But what makes
Sydney also special. Yes, everybody can see that talent and
(04:12):
how good she is on the net and kills that
she gets for us, but she's a great teammate. She
plays for the team. There's you know, Sydney is not
about Sydney. She just wants to be the best for
the team. And when you have that combination, the talent
and that mindset and being a great teammate, you know
(04:32):
you have something special. But Sidney also knows, and she
when we shared the news about the award yesterday and
our team chat, she she said, you know, she couldn't
do this without her teammates, and that just speaks speaks
about her. And it's wonderful when you have your best player,
one of your best players being that example of humility
(04:55):
and Sydney has that.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Daniel Otomachs where there's the head coach of the volleyball
program five and one after last night's victory over Xavier.
Before you play in the Big Twelve, you play in tournaments,
multi day multi team events mentioned you'll play in one
in normal Illinois. Uh do you How do you go
about selecting which event you're going to play in or
(05:18):
is that process done for you?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I do scheduling. Actually I've done always my whole career,
which is good. I know some other sports it's out
of the coach's hands. I'm glad that I can. I
can schedule that. It's getting harder and harder because everybody
is looking for the opponents that spits where their team
(05:42):
is that. So you want to have a good combination
of non conference opponents where you want those teams to
be successful in their conferences. You don't want to play
teams that will lose a lot because that hurts you
in the long run. If you have a hopefully what
you're playing for is getting at large bed in the
Big Twelve. The committee, the selection committee will look at
(06:05):
a body of work of our whole season and there's
a formula that they have to follow, and scheduling is
very very important. There's an RPI which is ranking for volleyball,
and we are looking to play teams in one hundred
and fifty, maybe some in top twenty five, but we
(06:26):
want to have a good mix of wins, and if
you lose, it needs to be able to consider a
good loss. So for us, the only loss this year
we have is to Michigan, and I think that's not
a bad loss because Michigan will do well. They'll be
in the top half of the Big ten, so it's
not going to hurt us as much as let's say,
if you lose to somebody who is in one hundred
(06:47):
and fifty, we lose to them and then they lose
in their conference. So there's a little bit of art
and science. You have to look at RPIs and kind
of guess what those teams are going to look like
year based on the success in the previous year.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Makes makes sense, normal Illinois makes Yeah, yes, it makes now.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
If you asked me to re explain it, no chance,
But you explaining it to me makes makes total sense.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah. Yes, you basically want to win. If you want
to win, right, but then if you lose, it has
to be a good loss.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
You know what that that applies, That applies to every sport,
no question about it. Congratulations, I will congratulations. I will
issue you congratulations in advance for a career win number
four hundred. I know you're not even going to think
about how you're going to celebrate it, what you're going
to do. Hopefully it happens on Friday, but it's going
to happen, and it's a heck of a milestone.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
And it's cool that it's happening at U see.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Thank you, thank you. I actually didn't even know I
heard this morning somebody I saw on social media or
somebody told me. I have no idea. I said in
my press conference when I was hired at Cincinnati, I
really do not pay attention to that. I teach our
players to surrender the outcome and if you know, hopefully
I will reach four hundreds win, and I am also
(08:09):
glad that it's going to happen at Cincinnati, no.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Question about it. Can't thank you enough. I always enjoy
having the coach. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Let's pack the fifth third on the twenty seventh, when
we have our first Big twelve match here, so I
hope to see a lot of Bearcats fans.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
That's September the twenty seventh against West Virginia. We'll do it, coach,
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Bye.
Mo Egger News
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