Coach Dowjotas enters his sixth season as women’s volleyball coach at Morton College. Coming off of a historic '25-'26 season in which MC finished at the top of the Skyway Conference, he looks to continue winning ways since taking over. The Panthers upped their win total by six games from season one to season two after Dowjotas took over, and he has since won 20 or more matches in three of his five years at MC while producing five consecutive winning seasons in conference play. After the '23 season, Coach Dowjotas also became the second Morton College women’s volleyball coach in program history to win 20 or more games in back-to-back seasons.
Despite a 14-16 record in 2024, the Panthers reeled off eight straight wins (matching the program's longest win streak since 2018) and took a game from nationally-ranked Parkland for the first time in program history.
Over the past three years, Coach Dowjotas has assisted in sending 15 players to four-year schools.
2025 - Nina Jasiecka (Fairleigh Dickenson University) and Diana Stetsko (Florida National University)
2024 – Luana Gigante (Columbia College), Biljana Milosevic and Jovana Perovic (Oklahoma City University), Zoe Klaus (Trinity Christian College), Julixa Cintron (Philander Smith University) and Lily Margiljaj (Rochester Christian University).
2023 - Trenyce Bonner (St. Ambrose), Angelina Southard (Florida College), Nathaly Taylor (Tennessee Southern), Kylah Cales (Franklin College), Chassity Llanos-Padilla (Franklin College) and Regan McEvoy (Clarke).
In addition to getting his players moved on, Coach Dowjotas has worked with some of the programs most successful players.
- Maggie Plush (2021) the program’s first player to play at the NCAA Division I level, as she continued on to Grambling State University.
- Trenyce Bonner (2022) became the first Panther with 500-plus kills in a season, finishing 11th nationally and second among Region 4. Named to the Region 4 Midwest District A All-Tournament Team.
- Nina Jasiecka (2025) was named to the NJCAA All-American Third Team and led the Panthers in kills and hitting percentage. She was also named Skyway onference player of the year after helping MC to a perfect 6-0 conference record.
As a coach, Dowjotas understands the role of each player on the volleyball court because of his personal experience at each position. He played outside hitter in high school, setter at the club level, and libero in college.
"It helps me in training," Dowjotas said. "I'm able to adapt to the personalities and mindsets of what it takes to play different positions. It offers me a unique outlook."
Dowjotas has a successful club and high school coaching background. He’s the director of the Chicago Elite West volleyball club, which fields 31 teams for girls ages 10 to 18. During Dowjotas’ five years as director, he’s produced one runner-up team and a third-place finisher at the AAU National Championships.
He also spent nine years as head girls volleyball coach at Montini from 2010 to 2019. Dowjotas took his alma mater to the Class 3A state semifinals in 2014 for the first time in school history just the next year after finishing the year 30-4 and making it to the regional finals.
From Montini, Dowjotas produced two NCAA Division I players in Caitlyn Meeks (Georgia Southern) and Joslyn Boyer (Wisconsin). He's also sent players from the club levels to schools like Northern Arizona and UIC.
"I believe in working really hard and challenging our team every day," Dowjotas said. "I want them to understand what's expected of them and how they'll be held accountable for the things done on the court and in the classroom. Treat every practice like it's a tryout, playing time will be there for you, but it all starts in practice."
Dowjotas grew up in Westmont and played every sport offered at Holy Trinity Catholic School before volleyball both captured his heart and provided a college scholarship opportunity. He played outside hitter for four seasons at Montini, setter on the club scene, and libero at Dominican University, where Dowjotas was a two-time All-American. He also helped the Stars to a pair of NIRSA: Leaders in College Recreation Division II national titles in 2005 and 2006 while also winning the tournament's Libero of the Year in 2006.
Dominican, where he has a degree in business administration from, was the first Illinois team to win a NIRSA men's volleyball national title as the Stars were an impressive 81-7 during those two championship seasons.
"Champions are won with hard work and the determination to make yourself the best you can be," recalled Dowjotas. "The two biggest things I preach as a coach now is discipline and team culture. If you can't win the locker room, you can't win on the court. I want our teams to represent themselves in a respectful manner and compete at a championship level."
Coach Dowjotas certainly did just that with a successful ’25-’26 season which ended in the Region 4 District B Championship. Dowjotas and the Panthers won a program record 28 games and finished with a flawless 6-0 record in the Skyway to win conference for the first time in 44 years. The Panthers climbed the NJCAA national rankings, reaching 25 in the final poll, for the first time in program history. Coach Dowjotas capped off the noteworthy season by being recognized as the Conference Coach of the Year.
