Women’s Volleyball: ‘A dream come true’ Riverside-Brookfield’s Dana Rettke leads Wisconsin to first national title to cap career

Dana Rettke awoke Dec. 18 to a dawn that didn’t feel out of the ordinary.

It ended up being a day unlike any other.

Rettke capped her final college volleyball season by spiking the kill that clinched Wisconsin’s first national championship.

One day after being named AVCA National Player of the Year, the Riverside-Brookfield graduate had 14 kills to lead the Badgers (31-3) to a 22-25, 31-29, 25-23, 23-25, 15-12 victory over Nebraska at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

It was the culmination of a long-held dream for Rettke, a 6-foot-8 middle blocker who was one of four players who took advantage of a fifth year of eligibility to help Wisconsin reach the top. The Badgers had lost the NCAA title game to Stanford in 2019 and fell to Louisville in the national semifinals last season.

“The morning of the game, I just felt like the team was ready,” Rettke said. “It felt like a normal game day, honestly, just going through your routine, waking up, getting breakfast, doing some serve and pass, take a little nap, pregame meal.

“Everything was the same as a normal game, but the stakes were a little bit higher. I think our team really approached that as such.

“If you approach every game and every practice like it’s a championship, when we get to those moments it’s going to feel right. It’s going to feel normal, that you belong in those moments.”

Nobody was more comfortable in the big moments than Rettke, who is the first five-time AVCA first-team All-American. One of the best volleyball players in NCAA history, she dominated the 2021 season, leading the Badgers in kills (409), blocks (146) and hitting percentage (.431).

So it was fitting that Rettke delivered the championship clincher, rising up to smash the set from Sydney Hilley to the floor.

“My teammates really opened that up for me,” Rettke said. “Grace (Loberg) took two big rips just in that one rally and Nebraska was playing unbelievable defense, but Syd set me and there was not a single blocker in front of me.

“That’s what great setters do is put their hitters in great situations to get kills and get points. She saw that left-side blocker was going up with her, so she flung it back and it couldn’t have been a more perfect ball.

“When the ball dropped, everything kind of hit in that moment. Like, ‘Wow, we really did that,’ so it was pretty crazy.”

Many athletes grow up dreaming of clinching a championship with a kill or home run or touchdown. Rettke visualized Wisconsin winning the title but not her eventual role in the decisive moment.

“I never really visualized me getting a final point,” Rettke said. “I visualized the big moments. I visualized making a big hit in a big moment, but I just want the team to win. I don’t care who scores the final point.

“I actually was really pumped that Grace got set those two balls before me because I wanted her to have that moment. So it’s not about me. It’s never been about me.”

That unselfish attitude belies Rettke’s immense athleticism but endears her to teammates such as libero Lauren Barnes, a fifth-year senior from Benet who was outstanding in recording 31 digs in the title match.

“She’s a really special player,” Barnes said. “She’s one of the greatest teammates I’ve had and on top of that she’s got a lot of volleyball talent.

“To see her grow as a player, as an athlete, as a person, has been awesome. For the last three years I got to experience that with her.”

Barnes, who transferred from Minnesota after her sophomore season, was a club teammate of Rettke’s in high school. They joined with Hilley and former Geneva star Loberg in utilizing the NCAA rule giving last year’s seniors an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to take care of unfinished business.

It all came to fruition that night in Columbus.

“It was a really fun match,” Barnes said. “It was seriously amazing.

“It was kind of like a dream come true. We won the last point and Syd and Dana and I turned to each other and I said, ‘We did it.’ ”

For Rettke, the “we” has always been more important than “I” when it comes to her accomplishments. She consistently deflects credit for the accolades she has accumulated.

“There’s nothing but a whole lot of gratitude winning those awards,” Rettke said. “Getting National Player of the Year is such a big honor.

“There are so many players that are deserving of that this year, especially with all the super seniors who came back. But I think it speaks for how good everyone on the court is because in order to get those awards, I don’t pass my own balls, I don’t set my own balls.

“It’s really a testament to the people that I have around me and how amazing they are. I got what I ultimately wanted, which was a national championship.”

The aftermath was just as memorable as the match for Rettke, who will begin her pro volleyball career in Italy in January.

“We had a lot of fun,” Rettke said. “I remember waking up the next morning in the hotel and the whole team was on cloud nine.

“Everybody was laughing, having a great time, the spirits were so high. I was like, ‘Wow, we did that.’ I’ll never forget that morning and the breakfast with the team. It was a really good time.”