Vero Volley Monza’s rise to the top of the standings in the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile has overlapped with the arrival of Dana Rettke. Only time will tell if that was just a coincidence, but the impact the American middle blocker has had in such a short time with the Italian League leaders is undeniable.

The 23-year-old, 2.04m-tall Rettke had her first training session with Monza on January 18, after arriving directly from her collegiate team Wisconsin, where she won the NCAA Championship back in December.

Rettke has since appeared in three Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile matches and although she wasn’t able to avoid Monza’s setback against Novara last week, the American had excellent performances in key matches against defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano and Savino Del Bene Scandicci, helping her team come out on top on both occasions.

“I’m very happy to be in Italy,” she said about her first month in the league. “It’s been fantastic volleyball and everyone has been so welcoming. It’s been great so far and I can’t wait to continue this season and keep things going.”

Although she was part of the USA national team that won gold at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Rettke is only now starting her professional career. She had five successful collegiate seasons with Wisconsin, winning the MVP award last year and becoming the first player to be an All-American in five seasons.

In her first matches as a professional at the club level, she faced some of the strongest teams in the world and delivered 15 points (ten kills, three blocks, two aces) against Conegliano and 14 (13 kills, one block) against Scandicci, when she took home the MVP award. She has had an efficiency rate of over 60% in each of the three matches.

“It was a great team effort win today,” she commented about the match against Scandicci. “I thought our energy was consistent throughout the entire match. We really leaned on each other to get through the match and everyone contributed in so many great ways. I was really proud of how the team played.”

Rettke will soon have an American teammate by her side after Monza signed Tokyo Olympics MVP Jordan Larson until the end of the season. The team’s next match in the Lega Pallavolo vivo Serie A1 Femminile is on Sunday, against Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club.

Quick links:

Lega Pallavolo SuperLega Credem Banca
Lega Pallavolo Femminile Serie A1
Volleyball TV
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