Superstar went from 'huge learning curve' to career 'peak' with US Olympic volleyball (2024)

Dana Rettke will never forget her first visit to Paris. But her second trip promises to be even more memorable.

Rettke, the former University of Wisconsin volleyball star, is making that second trip to Paris to compete for the United States in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

More than a month after the team was announced June 5, Rettke was still trying to process this latest achievement. It’s already been a remarkable career for the 6-foot-8 Rettke, who went from an unheralded late-bloomer in high school to a five-time first-team All-American with the Badgers, culminating with the program’s first NCAA championship.

“I don’t really know if it has set in yet,” Rettke said. “It’s still kind of crazy for me to think about and to talk about. It’s like, 'Wow, this is really happening to me.' I don’t think it will fully set in until we get to Paris.

“It’s been a really exciting few weeks, a really intense few weeks. There’s been a lot of emotions. My whole career and everything that I’ve worked for is coming to a peak right now. I hope to continue to keep finding peaks in my career but for right now this is definitely a peak.

“I need to reflect and digest what is happening but I think that will all happen post Olympics.”

Rettke was just a tourist on her first trip to Paris, a weekend outing a couple years ago with two of her Vero Volley Monza teammates, including Olympic teammate Jordan Thompson.

“Paris is like a magical city, that’s the only way I can describe it,” Rettke said. “I remember watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night and it was like, 'Wow, one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.'

“They had the Olympic rings up already and were promoting it. I just remember thinking, 'I’m going to be here in 2024.' And I am … I will be. The fact that the Olympics are in Paris makes it that much more magical.”

There’s been nothing magical about Rettke’s rise as a world class player. She’s had to grind and work her way up to that status.

Rettke, 25, began working out with the U.S. National team in 2019 and was the only collegiate player to compete that year in the Volleyball Nations League. But even with that head start into international competition and her storied career at Wisconsin, Rettke had a rude awakening when she began her pro career in Italy. She joined Vero Volley Monza mid-season and suddenly she was trying to find her way with one of the top clubs in the world, competing in Champions League against the elite players in the sport.

“Coming out of college, that’s a big adjustment, it really is,” she said. “You come from being a big fish in a small pond to kind of the opposite. It’s hard, not just in volleyball but in life. I was living in a different country, didn’t know the language, didn’t know anything. Simple things became hard.

“But it’s about your mindset and how you decide to perceive these challenges. I just have always thought about the way that I want to go about my career, I just want to be the best volleyball player that I can be. I knew that Vero Monza volleyball was going to get me to where I wanted to be, at least early on in my career.

“So there’s been a lot of hard work. I definitely went through a huge learning curve. I probably made my teammates very frustrated because I was a step behind in a lot of areas. I’m still not where I want to be but I think that I’ve gotten so much better in all aspects of my game: attacking, blocking, serving, defending, just thinking about the game. I feel like I’m on a really good path and I’m grateful for my club to believe in me and trust in me the past three years and develop me.”

One of the biggest challenges, she said, was overcoming the self-doubt that can creep up when things aren’t going your way and you’re a long way from home.

“Sometimes it does feel like, 'What am I doing this for,' when you’re all alone in a different country,” she said. “But it’s just reminding myself that this is exactly where I want to be. I still have a ways to go. I’m definitely not satisfied with where I’m at.

“I’ve just got to keep that growth mindset, keep working and keep learning from some of the great minds in the sport. Making this Olympic roster was one of those moments like, 'Yeah, it’s all worth it.'”

Rettke’s professional career will take a different direction following the Olympics, as she is leaving Italy to play for Eczacibasi Dynavit in Istanbul, Turkey. Among her teammates there will be Kathryn Plummer, the former Stanford star who is another Olympic teammate.

“I think sometimes you just need a little bit of a change, a new environment, different challenges being thrown at you,” Rettke said. “I kind of got to the point where I was ready for that. Turkey is one of the places I’ve always wanted to play.”

For now, however, the one and only priority is getting ready for the Olympics. The U.S. won its first gold medal in 2021 in Tokyo but enters the Paris Games as an underdog. The U.S. finished 7th in the VNL this year at 7-6 and is ranked No. 5 in the world behind Brazil, Italy, Turkey and Poland.

The 12 teams in the Olympics are divided into three pools with the U.S. in Pool A along with host France, No. 6 China and No. 9 Serbia. The U.S. will open against China on July 29.

“We didn’t have the VNL we had hoped for,” Rettke said. “But the world is really getting freaking good at volleyball right now. Which isn’t an excuse and we definitely have the ability to beat every team in the world.

“It’s just been nice to get to train together and create that synergy, get things firing on all cylinders so when we get to those moments on that big stage, we’ll be ready to go. The pressure of the gold medal from the previous Olympics I guess it’s there, it lingers a little bit. But we also have to remember that we’re a completely new team with a lot of different players in different roles.”

Rettke is one of three middle blockers on the team joining Haleigh Washington and Chiaka Ogbogu, both veterans of the gold medal team. Eight of the 12 members of the team are returning from the 2021 squad. The newcomers include Rettke and another former Badger, setter Lauren Carlini, along with outside hitters Avery Skinner and Plummer.

Rettke and Carlini are the first Wisconsin players to be named to the Olympic team and even though she hasn’t been in Madison, Rettke is well aware of the excitement their presence on the roster has engendered.

“I can feel the excitement from the Badger community,” Rettke said. “I’ve gotten emails from professors, I’ve been able to talk with Kelly (Sheffield) a lot and obviously he’s over the moon. Knowing the volleyball community in Madison and the fanbase of Wisconsin volleyball, I know they’re very excited, especially for Lauren. It’s been a long time coming for her. It’s been a long time for me too, but a really long time for her.

“I think people are really stoked that Wisconsin volleyball is going to be on the most elite world class stage. Lauren and I are just so proud of that. We’re so excited to go and represent Wisconsin and really excited that we get to play together and go through this journey together.”