29/04/2020 11:00
German setter Denise Hanke announces retirement
News from the National Federations
Frankfurt/Schwerin, Germany, April 29, 2020. The German women’s national team will have to continue their upwards trajectory on the international Volleyball scene without their main setter and leader as Denise Hanke has announced her retirement from competitive sport.
In an interview with the website of the German Volleyball Federation (DVV), the 30-year-old setter announced her decision to leave the sport. Hanke was the captain of the country’s national team and accumulated more than 240 matches with the Germans, several of them in major international competitions like EuroVolley, the 2018 FIVB Volleyball World Championship, the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League and multiple editions of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix.
“I made this decision long ago,” she revealed. “It was the hardest decision I ever made and I struggled with it for a while. My time with the national team was very special. I had the opportunity to play so many matches, to visit several places and to meet some of the most amazing people. I feel that Volleyball is a big part of my life, but this phase is now completed. The memories will always remain in my mind and my heart.”
A left-handed setter, Hanke ended her career playing by winning the 2019-2020 edition of the German Supercup for SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN, where she started playing back in 2007. The veteran also defended the colours of Turkey’s Eczacibasi VitrA ISTANBUL and Poland’s Impel WROCLAW.
Opposite Louisa Lippmann, who shared the courts with Hanke at the club and national team levels, commented her decision to leave the sport.
“I will miss her a lot both on and off the court,” the opposite said. “Not only her funny personality or her unique dance moves, but also the friend who was always available to listen and help with any problem. She was always 100 per cent committed and we will also miss her game and her magic left hand, but behind the player there’s a person with a huge heart that will be missed in the volleyball world.”
Hanke is a 2013 EuroVolley silver medallist with the German national team, a six-time German national champion, three-time winner of the national cup as well as of the Supercup – and twice MVP of the Bundesliga. Denise represented Germany for the last time on the international stage at the Tokyo Volleyball qualifier held this past January in Apeldoorn (NED), where the German ‘Butterflies’ lost to Turkey in the final after routing hosts the Netherlands (see video above) in the semis.
|