| Dana Rettke | |||||||||||||||
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 Rettke in 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Full name | Dana Lynn Rettke | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1999-01-21)January 21, 1999 (age 26) Riverside, Illinois, United States | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 204 cm (6 ft 8 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| College / University | Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||
| Volleyball information | |||||||||||||||
| Position | Middle blocker | ||||||||||||||
| Current club |  Eczacıbaşı Dynavit | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||||||
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| National team | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Dana Lynn Rettke (/ˈrɛtki/RET-kee; born January 21, 1999)[2] is an American professionalvolleyball player forEczacıbaşı Dynavit in the TurkishSultanlar Ligi. She played collegiate volleyball at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison and is the first five-timeAVCA First Team All American in collegiate history. Rettke was also a member of theU.S. national team and has won All-Big Ten honors in each of her five college seasons, was the 2019–20Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year and the 2021-2022 winner of theHonda Sports Award for women's volleyball.
Growing up inRiverside, Illinois, Rettke graduated fromRiverside Brookfield High School in 2017.[3] She began playing basketball in first grade and volleyball in ninth grade. Although she had recruiting interest from multiple basketball programs in theBig Ten Conference, Rettke decided to focus on volleyball after feeling overwhelmed during an open gym practice withIllinois Fighting Illini women's basketball players.[4]
As a sophomore in October 2014, Rettke verbally committed to theWisconsin Badgers women's volleyball team.[5] An Illinois Player of the Year, she earned multiple All-American honors as a senior,USA Today first team andAmerican Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) second team.[3]
After high school, Rettke enrolled at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison in 2017 and majored inbusiness marketing. A 203 cm (6 ft 8 in) middle blocker for theWisconsin Badgers, she was the tallest member of the team when she joined.[4] Starting in all 32 matches of 2017, Rettke played in 113 sets and averaged 4.39 points, 3.42 kills, 1.37 blocks, and 0.22 service aces.[3] Rettke earned All-Big Ten and first-team AVCA All-American honors that season.[3]
In 2018, Rettke again started all 32 matches. In 117 sets, Rettke averaged 3.74 kills and 1.54 blocks.[3] For the second straight season, Rettke was on the All-Big Ten team and AVCA All-American first team.[3]
As a junior in 2019, Rettke played in 32 of 34 matches with 30 starts, missing two matches due to a foot injury. Rettke had a team leading 3.75 kills per set, the fifth best in the Big Ten.[3] Rettke was part of a team that qualified for the championship match of the2019 NCAA Tournament.[6] Rettke finished 2019 with her third consecutive All-Big Ten and first-team AVCA All-American honors and was the 2019–20Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.[3][7]On December 18, 2021 Rettke helped lead the Badgers to its first everNCAA national championship and was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team.[8] On January 4, 2022, Rettke was named theHonda Sports Award volleyball winner as the nation's top collegiate female volleyball player.[9] In June 2022, Rettke won Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year award for the second time. With the honor, she became the first Big Ten student-athlete ever chosen Big Ten Athlete of the Year in non-consecutive seasons, and became the third two-time recipient of the Big Ten Female Athlete[10] of the Year Award.[11]
Rettke was part of the 2018USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team.[3] In May 2019, Rettke was selected to theUnited States women's national volleyball team for the2019 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League inNanjing, China.[12] Competing in five matches, Rettke helped the U.S. win gold in the Nations League.[3] Then in August, Rettke competed with Team USA in the2019 FIVB Women's Volleyball Intercontinental Olympic Qualification Tournament, in which Team USA qualified for the2020 Summer Olympics.[13] She played for the2024 Paris Olympics team that won the silver medal.[14]
Following her career at Wisconsin, she signed on to play professional volleyball with A1 Italian club team,Vero Volley Milano in 2022.[15] Rettke signed with Turkish clubEczacıbaşı Dynavit in May 2024.[16]
