Wisconsin volleyball: Dana Rettke to return to UW

Add another name to the seniors who will be back for another run at the national title for Wisconsin volleyball. And a pretty big one at that.

Four-time All-American middle blocker Dana Rettke will return to the Badgers for the fall campaign, per a report, loading up Wisconsin and head coach Kelly Sheffield for another run.

There was buzz starting Tuesday night over her return, after an article from Dennis Punzel was posted to Madison.com (seemingly by accident) confirming a fifth season for Rettke.

But now the post is back up, and the Badgers will return an almost fully loaded lineup to a team that has made back-to-back Final Fours — including a national title loss in 2019.

Rettke joins Sydney Hilley, Grace Loberg, Giorgia Civita and Lauren Barnes as seniors who pledged to return. Meanwhile, Molly Haggerty and Deahna Kraft have moved on from college while Nicole Shannahan transferred to the Tennessee Volunteers.

Save for Haggerty, the Badgers return most of their standout attack. And Devyn Robinson won’t be a freshman anymore.

Combine that former Iowa libero Joslyn Boyer transferring over to the Badgers and the return of Barnes and Civita — and the addition of Sydney Reed — the defense looks taken care of as well.

Fans ready to pack the Field House next year must surely be thinking this will be the year.