St. Thomas University director of athletics Laura Courtley-Tood introduced Kera Dukic as the new head coach for the Bobcats women’s volleyball team, a woman who led Central Oklahoma to its best record in school history last year.
Dukic takes over a program that finished runner up in The Sun Conference last season, and she will also lead the Bobcats’ beach volleyball program.
“It's truly an honor to be here at St. Thomas University,” said Dukic. “I was waiting for the right opportunity to further my career and I’m so thankful to be at STU. I thank Laura Courtley-Todd for the opportunity and a huge thank you to the several mentors in my life that have helped give me guidance because I couldn't have done it without them. I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together here at St. Thomas.”
Said Courtley-Todd: “We are thrilled to have Kera join our Bobcat family and to lead our Indoor and Beach Volleyball programs. Kera is prepared to mentor our student-athletes both on and off the court."
A native of White Lake, Michigan, Dukic spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma. Last season, UCO finished with a 30-4 overall record and was nationally ranked as high as No. 7 during the regular season.
In college, Dukic played at Arkansas Tech where she was a four-year standout as a setter. She twice was named All-Conference and registered 2,693 career assists to lead the Golden Suns to two league tiles.
Dukic and the Bobcats will begin the 2017 season by hosting the STU Volleyball Classic on August 25-26. The 2017 schedule includes trips to Columbia, Kentucky and Bourbonnais, Illinois for tournaments involving top NAIA programs to go along with The Sun Conference slate.