Senior Spotlight: Brenna Hesse

As the only senior on the team, Brenna Hesse is looking to lead and grow the young Minnesota State University, Mankato women’s volleyball team into something special this season. 

“I’ve always felt like a leader on the team,” said Hesse. “I’m definitely excited to take on the roll.”

Hesse has been playing volleyball ever since she was a little girl. Her interest and love for the sport came from her mom and older sister’s history with volleyball.

“My mom played volleyball in college, so I started off playing really young and absolutely fell in love with it,” said Hesse. “My older sister also played, so that definitely got me into it, as well.”

Hesse’s passion for volleyball has only grown over the years. She played volleyball all through middle school and high school in Farmington, Minn.. Sharing the court with her older sister in high school is one of the highlights of her career. 

Hesse began her collegiate volleyball career at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. She appeared in every match for the Phoenix, leading the team with a total of 447 digs in the 2019 season. After her success at Green Bay, Hesse transferred to MSU a couple years ago. 

“I wanted to transfer because for me, Volleyball felt kind of like a job there [GB],” said Hesse. “Volleyball is super important to me, but school and a social life are also important. Everyone on the team here [MSU] are like best friends and I absolutely love every one of them.”

Hesse has made a splash at MSU, as well. In the 2021 season, she recorded a total of 92 digs out of the 44 sets she appeared in, averaging just over 2 digs per set.

Outside of volleyball, Hesse loves to spend her time with family, in the great outdoors and traveling. 

Hesse, a business management major, is also minoring in communication studies. Her plans for after graduation are not set in stone, but a life without playing volleyball will be a major adjustment. 

“My plans after college potentially include getting my masters in health care management,” said Hesse. “But obviously getting a job, something in business at first, but eventually I’d really like to work in health care management.”

With being the only senior on the team, it shows how young the MSU team is. This group of talented athletes are set up for many successes in their next seasons, showing major growth already throughout this season.

Header Photo: Originally from Farmington, Minn. Brenna Hesse is the only senior on the MSU Volleyball team this season. (Ali Reed/The Reporter)

Write to Ali Reed at Alicia.Reed@mnsu.edu