Dana Rettke
Dana Rettke
Personal Life
Dana was born in 1999 to John and Kathy Rettke.
Dana is 6 '8 and both of her parents are exceptionally tall, with her mom standing 5 '11 and her father towering at 6 '6.
She grew up in Riverside, Illinois with her sister Leah Rettke who also plays volleyball and is 5 '11 tall. Coming from a tall family has helped her maintain a sense of humor about the attention her stature draws: [2][3]
"I've grown up with it so I can really say I'm used to it.
My friends don't make a big deal about it, but if we're walking around in Chicago they like to walk be behind me and see people's reactions.
There's just a lot of, 'Wow, how tall are you?' 'Do you play basketball or volleyball?"
Dana has always been athletic.
In addition to sports like basketball and soccer, she contributes her athletic grace to years of dance lessons. She did not begin playing volleyball until her freshmen year in high school.
Education
Dana Rettke is majoring in marketing and international business at University of Wisconsin. Dana went to Riverside Brookfield High School where she was a standout volleyball player and is the tallest person to ever play there. [1]
Volleyball
Dana plays middle blocker, using her 6 '8 frame to her advantage.
Shortly after attending high school, dana started playing volleyball since her best friend was on the team. The Triple Ace Volleyball Club coach contacted University of Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield, suggesting Dana would be a player of interest. Initially, Sheffield wasn't impressed: [4]
"The volleyball was not very good.
There was nothing that resembled pass-set-hit.
She never got the ball, she didn't really know the game and she didn't block well."
However, he saw her pick up a basketball and dribble a figure 8 between her legs before gliding down the court. He decided she was something special. She was also being courted for basketball scholarships from schools like University of Iowa, Illinois State, Michigan State, Stanford, Loyola and Northwestern. [4]
On December 13th 2019, Dana helped the Wisconsin Badgers defeat the Texas A&M Aggies and move on to the Elite 8. [26]
Awards
She was also labeled the B1G Player Of The Year: [6]
"Rettke, a unanimous All-Big Ten selection, ranks fifth in the Big Ten in kills per set with 3.77 and third in the conference with a.402 hitting percentage.
The Riverside, Ill., native also averages 1.40 blocks per set, good for second in the Big Ten.
The junior leads the nation in hitting percentage for active career leaders with.423 and ranks third in active career blocks per set with 1.44.
The Academic All-Big Ten honoree earned Big Ten Player of the Week recognition four times this season and led Wisconsin to its sixth Big Ten title, the first since 2014, finishing the conference season with an 18-2 record.
Rettke is the fifth student in Wisconsin history to be named Big Ten Player of the Year."
Social Media
Dana Rettke has over 18,000 followers on her verified Instagram account dana_rettke as of December 2019 .
She mainly shares photos of herself and her teammates playing volleyball and training.
Rettke also shares photo of herself hanging out with her roommates.
She has over 2,200 followers on her Twitter account @dana_rettke. On Twitter she mainly retweets tweets about the Wisconsin Badgers women's volleyball team.[7] [8]