Maja Ognjenović ( sr-Cyrl, Маја Огњеновић; born 6 August 1984) is a Serbian professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player of the

Serbia women's national volleyball team The Serbia women's national volleyball team is governed by the Volleyball Federation of Serbia and takes part in international volleyball competitions. FIVB considers Serbia the inheritor of the records of SFR Yugoslavia (1948–1992) and Serbi ...

and a two-time Olympic medalist. She is a five-time Olympian at the setter position. Ognjenović won gold with the national team at the 2018 World Championship, and the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

edition of the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, silver at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and bronze at the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Ognjenović has won a total of 17 podiums from major world-level or continental-level competitions (

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

) with the women’s national team, six gold, five silver and six bronze medals. She also has a successful club career, having played in some of the world's most competitive leagues such as Italy, Turkey, Russia, Poland and more. In 2020, Ognjenović was included in the list of #roster100 by FIVB as one of the 100 most influential volleyball players between 2010 and 2020.

“I’m happy to have had the opportunity to play in Serbian volleyball and in world volleyball during the last decade and I hope to have the opportunity to play a little more during the new decade. Because I have plans. I feel really good on the court and I have more to give to volleyball.”

On 1 September 2021, Ognjenović marked an important milestone of her career as she became the first Serbian woman to join the Serbian 300+ caps club after having played 300 matches with the national team. The Serbian setter and captain was honored by receiving a framed version of her jersey with the number 300.

“It is a big motivation for me to have played 300 matches with the national team for the past 16 or 17 years. Actually, I didn’t know that today is the day of my 300th match. It is a big privilege to be a member of the Serbian 300+ club and I think I am the first woman to have reached this mark. It was very emotional when I received the shirt with the number 300, but most of all I am happy about tonight’s victory.”

National Team Career

Senior team

2002: Joining the Serbian National Team

Ognjenović joined the Serbian women’s national team in 2002.

2006: Won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Championship

She started all matches of the 2006 FIVB World Championship held in Japan; the Serbian national team went on to win the bronze medal.

2007: Won the silver medal at the 2007 European Championship

In 2007, Ognjenović won the silver medal and the Best Setter award at the 2007 European Championship.

2009–2011: Three-time back-to-back European League champions

Ognjenović was part of the Serbian squad that won the gold medal during the 2009 European League. She took part in the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provin ...

with the national team the following month and won the silver medal. She went on to win back-to-back gold medal at the 2010 European League with the national team. She was also named the Best Setter of the tournament. Ognjenović was named in the roster for the 2011 European League. Serbia won the gold medal for the third year in a row. She was awarded tournament’s Best Setter for the 2nd year running.

2011: Won the gold medal at the 2011 European Championship

At the final match against Germany, Serbia was able to get the title of the 2011 European Championship in front of its home crowd, ending the match and the tournament with a 3–2 score. Ognjenović was awarded Best Setter of the tournament.

2012: Won the bronze medal at the 2012 European League

Ognjenović won the bronze medal with the Serbian squad at the 2012 European League. She was named Best Setter for the third year in a row.

2015: Won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Championship

In 2015, Ognjenović won the bronze medal with the Serbian national team after defeating Turkey 3–0 in the 3rd place match of the 2015 European Championship. She was awarded tournament’s Best Setter.

2016: Won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Ognjenović was part of the 12-player Olympic roster for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio de Janeiro. On 20 August 2016, she won a silver medal as a member of the Serbian women’s volleyball team after being defeated by China 3–1 in the final.

2018: Won the gold medal at the 2018 World Championship

Even though Ognjenović decided to take a break from the Serbian national team after the 2016 Rio Olympics, Serbia national team head coach

Zoran Terzić Zoran Terzić ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Терзић, born 9 July 1966) is a Serbian volleyball coach. He was the coach of the Serbia women's national volleyball team between 2002 and 2022, and under his leadership the team won 20 European, World a ...

announced her comeback by including her in Serbia’s 14-player roster for the 2018 World Championship. She then proceeded to win Serbia’s first World Championship gold medal, when her team defeated Italy 3–2 in the final match.

2019: Won the gold medal at the 2019 European Championship

Ognjenović won the gold medal with her national team at the 2019 European Championship after they defeated Turkey 3–2 in the finals. She was awarded tournament’s Best Setter.

2021: Won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and silver medal at the European Championship

Ognjenović was named to the 12-player roster for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, her fourth straight Olympic Games. After a devastating 3–0 defeat to USA during the semifinals, Serbia proceeded to defeat South Korea 3–0 in the 3rd place match for the bronze medal. She led Serbia to victory as they defeated France 3–1 to proceed to the European Championship semifinals. She went on to win the silver medal at the 2021 European Championship after being defeated by Italy 3–1 in the final.

June 2023: First ever participation in the Volleyball Nations League

Ognjenović participated in the VNL for the 1st time in her career since the creation of the tournament. As it was widely regarded as a non-major tournament for the longest time (before the introduction of ranking points), she uses this time to recuperate after a hectic and stressful club season. This time round, along with fellow compatriot,

Tijana Bošković Tijana Bošković ( sr-Cyrl, Тијана Бошковић; born 8 March 1997) is a Serbian professional volleyball player of VakıfBank S.K., VakıfBank. A left-handed Opposite hitter, opposite, she has won gold medals with the Serbia women's n ...

; both joined team Serbia in Week 3 of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League in Suwon,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

at the request of

Giovanni Guidetti Giovanni Guidetti (born 20 September 1972) is an Italian volleyball coach. He is the current coach for Canada women's national volleyball team. He has been coaching Turkish team Vakıfbank Spor Kulübü since 2008. He coached the Turkey women's ...

, Serbia’s new coach. Due to a rough start during the first 2 weeks of the competition, Serbia did not qualify for the Final 8 as they only won 3 out of 4 matches in Week 3, ranking just outside of the top 8 at the end of the preliminary round.

September 2023: Won the silver medal at the 2023 European Championship

Ognjenović, despite being diagnosed with a severe stomach virus, came off the bench in the 3rd set against the Netherlands in the semi-finals after her team lost the 2nd set and was trailing by 3-points in the 3rd and led them to a decisive 3–1 victory with her experience and tenacity. She went on to win the silver medal at the 2023 European Championship final after a well fought match which ended with a score of 3–2 in favor of Türkiye.

Club career

2000s

Ognjenović made her professional career debut with

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

in 2002. She won the Serbian league championship and the Serbian cup in the same season. She stayed for the following season and went on to win the Serbian league championship yet again. During the 2004 season, she came 2nd place in both the league and cup championship. In the 2005 season, she got bronze for both championship. Ognjenović then played for Metal Galati from 2006 to 2008, winning the Romanian league championship for both seasons. She won the

2008–09 CEV Challenge Cup The 2008–09 CEV Challenge Cup was the 29th edition of the European Challenge Cup volleyball club tournament, the former CEV Cup. The Turkish club Arkas İzmir beat Polish club Jastrzębski Węgiel in the final and achieved its first CEV Challe ...

with Italian club Monte Schiavo Banca Marche Jesi, defeating the Greek club

Panathinaikos Athens Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of ...

3–0 in the final. She was awarded tournament’s Best Setter. In 2009, she played for

Eczacıbaşı Zentiva Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. As of 2023, the Group's 50 companies employ more than 13,500 people, operate 40 production plants, and generate a combined net turnover of TL 33 billion. Group E ...

2010s

In the 2010–11 season, she won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. In 2011, she played for Liu Jo Volley Modena. She went on to play for Impel Wrocław in the 2012–2013 season. In 2013–14, she won both the Polish league and

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

with

Chemik Police Klub Piłkarski Chemik Police, commonly referred to as Chemik Police, is a football club based in Police near Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwe ...

. She was also awarded Best Setter of the

. Ognjenović stayed in Poland with

the following season, and went on to win the 2014–15 Polish league with them. Although the team finished 4th place, she was named Best Setter of the

2014–15 CEV Champions League The 2014–15 CEV Champions League was the 56th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Participating teams League round 28 teams have been drawn to 7 pools of 4 tea ...

. In 2015, she played for Nordmeccanica Piacenza. She was runner up of the 2015–16 Italian Serie A1 league after being defeated by

Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian professional women's volleyball club based in Conegliano in Northern Italy and currently playing in the Italian Women's Volleyball League, Serie A1. On the global stage, the team is a world champion (current) winning th ...

3–0 in the decisive 4th final match of the season. In 2016, she won the 2016 FIVB Club World Championship with

Eczacıbaşı VitrA Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. As of 2023, the Group's 50 companies employ more than 13,500 people, operate 40 production plants, and generate a combined net turnover of TL 33 billion. Group E ...

in Manila. She proceeded to win the bronze medal with the club team during the

2016–17 CEV Champions League The 2016–17 CEV Champions League was the 58th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition League round *All times are local Poo ...

after defeating Russian club Dinamo Moscow 3–1 in the 3rd place match. In 2017–18, she stayed on with Turkish club

and won the

2017–18 CEV Cup The 2017–18 CEV Cup was the 46th edition of the European CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. ...

. She was also named the Best Setter of the tournament. Although her team lost the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

to Turkish rivals VakıfBank, Ognjenović was awarded Best Setter. During the 2018–19 season, she won both the Russian Cup and Russian Super Cup with Dinamo Moscow. She was named the Russian Cup’s Best Setter. In 2019, she won the bronze medal at the 2019 FIVB Club World Championship with Turkish club VakıfBank by defeating Italian club Igor Gorgonzola Novara 3–0 in the 3rd place match. She was the runner up of the

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

after Turkish rivals

defeated them 3–2. She was named Best Setter of the Super Cup.

2020s

Ognjenović stayed with Turkish club VakıfBank the following season (2020–2021) and proceeded to win the 2021

with them. She won the silver medal with VakıfBank after being defeated by

3–2 in the final match. In 2021–22, Ognjenović won the

2021–22 CEV Cup The 2021–22 CEV Cup was the 50th edition of the second most important European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Participating teams The drawing of lots took place on 25 June 2021 in Luxembourg C ...

with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit, defeating German club

Allianz MTV Stuttgart Allianz MTV Stuttgart is a German professional volleyball team based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. In 2020, sports director was Kim Renkema whereas managing director was Aurel Irion. For the 2020-21 season, Stuttgart re-hired Athina Papaf ...

3–1 in both the first and second leg of the finals. She was awarded her first ever MVP. She was also named Best Setter of the CEV Cup. She stayed on with Turkish club Eczacıbaşı Dynavit the following season and won the bronze medal at the 2022 FIVB Club World Championship by defeating Brazilian club Gerdau Minas 3–1 in the 3rd place match. Currently, she plays at Savino del Bene Scandicci.

Personal life

Ognjenović has been married to Serbian former competitive water polo player

Danilo Ikodinović Danilo “Dača” Ikodinović ( sr-cyrl, Данило Дача Икодиновић, born 4 October 1976) is a Serbian former professional water polo player who played on the bronze medal squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics (with Yugoslavia) and t ...

since 2016. They have been in a relationship for more than 3 years before deciding to tie the knot on the last day of 2016.

Awards

National team

Senior team

* 2005 Trofeo Valle d'Aosta – Bronze Medal * 2006 World Championship – Bronze Medal * 2007 European Championship – Silver Medal * 2009 European League – Gold Medal * 2010 European League – Gold Medal * 2011 European League – Gold Medal * 2011 European Championship – Gold Medal * 2012 European League – Bronze Medal * 2015 European Championship – Bronze Medal *

– Silver Medal * 2018 World Championship – Gold Medal * 2019 Gloria Cup – Gold Medal * 2019 European Championship – Gold Medal *

– Bronze Medal * 2021 European Championship – Silver Medal * 2023 European Championship – Silver Medal

Universiade

– Silver Medal

Clubs

* 2002/2003 Serbian Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* 2002/2003 Serbian Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* 2003/2004 Serbian Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

* 2003/2004 Serbian Cup – Bronze medal, with

* 2004/2005 Serbian Championship – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with

* 2004/2005 Serbian Cup – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with

* 2005/2006 Serbian Championship – Bronze medal, with

* 2005/2006 Serbian Cup – Bronze medal, with

* 2006/2007 Romanian Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Metal Galati * 2006/2007 Romanian Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Metal Galati * 2007/2008 Romanian Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Metal Galati * 2007/2008 Romanian Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Metal Galati * 2008/2009

CEV Challenge Cup The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed to CEV Challenge Cup. History * # ...

–

Champion, with Monte Schiavo Banca Marche Jesi * 2010/2011

–

Champion, with

* 2012/2013

– Bronze medal, with Impel Wrocław * 2013/2014

Polish volleyball league The PlusLiga is the highest level of men's volleyball in Poland, a professional league competition featuring volleyball clubs located in this country. It is overseen by Polska Liga Siatkówki SA (PLS SA). It is currently a 14 teams league from Oc ...

–

Champion, with

* 2013/2014

–

Champion, with

* 2014/2015

–

Runner-Up, with

* 2014/2015

–

Champion, with

* 2015–16 Italian Serie A1 Championship – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Nordmeccanica Piacenza * 2016 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple cup icon

Champion, with

– Bronze medal, with

–

Champion, with

* 2017–18 Turkish League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with

* 2018/19 Russian Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Dinamo Moscow * 2018/19 Russian Super Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Dinamo Moscow * 2018–19 Russian Super League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Dinamo Moscow * 2019 FIVB Club World Championship – Bronze medal, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2020–21

–

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2020–21

–

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. *

2020–21 CEV Champions League The 2020–21 CEV Champions League was the 62nd edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition Drawing of Lots was held on 21 August 2020 i ...

–

Runner-Up, with Vakıfbank S.K. * 2021–22

–

Runner-Up, with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit *

–

Champion, with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit * 2022 FIVB Club World Championship – Bronze medal, with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit * 2022–23 Turkish League – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit *

2022–23 CEV Champions League The 2022–23 CEV Champions League was the 64th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition Drawing of Lots was held on 16 September 202 ...

–

Runner-Up, with Eczacıbaşı Dynavit * 2023–24 Italian Serie A1 Championship – Gorm silver cup

Runner-Up, with Savino del Bene Scandicci

Individual

* 2007 European Championship "Best Setter" * 2008–09 CEV Challenge Cup Final Four "Best Setter" * 2010 European League "Best Setter" * 2011 European League "Best Setter" * 2011 European Championship "Best Setter" * 2012 European League "Best Setter" * 2013/14 Polish Cup "Best Setter" * 2014–15 CEV Champions League "Best Setter" * 2015 European Championship "Best Setter" * 2017–18 CEV Cup "Best Setter" * 2017–18 Turkish Cup "Best Setter" * 2018/19 Russian Cup "Best Setter" * World Olympic Qualifications 2020 "Best Setter" * 2019 European Championship "Best Setter" * 2020–21 Turkish Women's Volleyball League "Best Setter" * 2021/22 CEV Cup "Best Setter" * 2021/22 CEV Cup "MVP"

References

External links

National Team Career

Senior team

2002: Joining the Serbian National Team

2006: Won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Championship

2007: Won the silver medal at the 2007 European Championship

2009–2011: Three-time back-to-back European League champions

2011: Won the gold medal at the 2011 European Championship

2012: Won the bronze medal at the 2012 European League

2015: Won the bronze medal at the 2015 European Championship

2016: Won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics

2018: Won the gold medal at the 2018 World Championship

2019: Won the gold medal at the 2019 European Championship

2021: Won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and silver medal at the European Championship

June 2023: First ever participation in the Volleyball Nations League

September 2023: Won the silver medal at the 2023 European Championship

Club career

2000s

2010s

2020s

Personal life

Awards

National team

Senior team

Universiade

Clubs

Individual

See also

References

External links