More evidence that, as well as being the center of the country, Nebraska is one of the centers of the volleyball world.


Shayla Rautenberg of Pleasant Dale is heading into her sophomore year at Milford, and she's bringing a gold medal back to Nebraska: Rautenberg was a starting middle blocker for the USA U19 team that captured the gold medal at the 2025 Pan American Cup in Canada at the end of June.


The Americans dropped only one set over their five matches in the tournament, defeating the Dominican Republic in the semis and then sweeping Mexico in the finals to win their third championship at this event in the last four years.


Rautenberg was literally at the middle of it all, notching seven kills and two blocks in the gold medal match.

Rautenberg's Eagles went 24-10 this past fall, with the freshman middle blocker pacing the squad in kills (4.1/set), hit percentage (.305) and blocks (1.1/set) and ranking third in aces (27). Among schools with stats on MaxPreps, Rautenberg's 118 total blocks ranked second in Class C1 and fifth in the entire state. As a freshman, Rautenberg was also a starter on the Milford basketball team that made the state championship game this spring as well as a member of the track team.

And athletic ability clearly runs in the family: Shayla’s mother is Lisa Reitsma, a former Nebraska volleyball great who was just announced as a member of the school's upcoming hall of fame class.