Steve Dowjotas starts his fifth season as women’s volleyball coach at Morton College. He’s made significant strides since taking over with the Panthers making a six-game improvement in the win total from season one to two as well as being just the second Morton College women’s volleyball team in program history to win 20 or more games in back-to-back seasons.
The Panthers have improved from 14 wins in season one to 20 in season two and 22 in season three. His career mark at Morton College is 70-68.
Morton College’s Region 4 last year may have been the most competitive ever with six teams cracking the top 25 nationally at one point and four teams in the top 20 of the final poll. Despite a 14-16 record, 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.
In 2023, the Panthers faced national qualifiers in Richard Bland, Sauk Valley and Parkland. The Panthers also beat Waubonsee for the third straight time, matching Morton College’s most successful run against the Chiefs dating back to 1981.
For the past two years, Morton College has sent six players to four-year schools.
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).
Bonner also became the first Morton College with 500-plus kills in a season. She finished ranked 11th nationally and second among Region IV players in 2022 with 502 kills.
During Morton College’s 20-18 showing in 2022, the Panthers took down eighth-ranked McHenry for the first time since 2013 and ended a 14-match losing streak against Waubonsee. The win over McHenry, which qualified for the nationals, was the highest-ranked team the Panthers have ever defeated.
Morton College also made one of its best Skyway showings in 2022, finishing second with a 5-1 mark. Morton College also has won 63 percent (17-10) of its Skyway Conference matches in Dowjotas’ first four seasons. The Panthers also have produced four consecutive winning seasons in Skyway play as well.
In 2021, Dowjotas also coached Maggie Plush, the program’s first player to play at the NCAA Division I level with a scholarship to Grambling State University.
As a coach, Dowjotas understands the role of each player on the volleyball court because he's walked that proverbial mile in their Nike shoes. He played outside hitter in high school, setter on 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 an extensive and 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 coach at Montini from 2010 to 2019 where Dowjotas took his alma mater to the Class 3A state semifinals in 2014 for the first time in school history.
Navigating a path to state in volleyball talent-laden DuPage County is never easy with 14-time state champion Wheaton St. Francis the tallest of the many giants standing in the way of stepping on the court at Illinois State's Redbird Arena. Dowjotas can vouch to that as his Montini team the year before getting to state might have better with a 30-4 record, but got beat by Wheaton St. Francis in a regional final.
From Montini, Dowjotas produced two NCAA Division I players in Caitlyn Meeks (Georgia Southern) and Joslyn Boyer (Wisconsin). He's 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. One quote I like to use is, '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 the village's 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 and helped the Stars to a pair of NIRSA: Leaders in College Recreation Division II national titles in 2005 and 2006. He also was the tournament's Libero of the Year in 2006.
Dominican 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.
"It was a super competitive environment," recalled Dowjotas, who has a degree in business administration from Dominican. "We played schools of all sizes ranging from Boston College to Olivet Nazarene."
Dominican's 2006 national championship team is another example of the all-out effort Dowjotas expects from his team. Again, it's a trait he displayed as a student as Dominican only had seven players on the roster that year.
"Champions are won with hard work and the determination to make yourself the best you can be," recalled Dowjotas about that team. "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."
