October 12, 2022

Photo by Mizzou Athletics/Lainey Hogg

Soccer goalkeeper Bella Hollenbach has had a dominant start since joining the Missouri Tigers in 2021. Despite redshirting her freshman season due to an injury, she continues to make strides across the field.

Hollenbach was originally a pianist until she quit at 9 years old. At the time, her parents told her she still needed to find something to do, so she started playing soccer.

“I really fell in love with it because I got to bond with my dad and my brother,” Hollenbach said. “[It] brought our whole family together.”

Despite the nine hour drive between them, her dad and brother are still influential in her soccer career.

“They keep me motivated because my brother and I [still] train together when we’re home from college,” Hollenbach said. “Even though we both play different positions, we both want to be better than each other.”

When on the field, Hollenbach is reminded of her dad’s voice giving her words of advice –– “just do you,” “play your heart out” and “almost doesn’t cut it.”

Through these sayings, she has taught herself that every missed save is a lesson on how to be better.

In eighth grade, Hollenbach started getting serious about soccer and deciding what she wanted to pursue after graduation from high school. In high school, she was named the District 13-6A Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021 and led the Houston Dash to rank in the Top 10 club ranking.

Both Hollenbach and her brother would always skip over college when discussing the future. They both wanted to play professionally for city and country leagues but did not think about what they would do before then.

However, those thoughts changed as they began their high school careers.

“When we got to high school, we were like we also need a college degree so we can play and work towards [the pros],” Hollenbach said. “I think we had the same dream of going big and getting to play as long as we [could], so college became a big factor.”

When looking for schools, Hollenbach did not have ties anywhere because her dad went to college in Germany, while her mom did not go to college. She was free to choose wherever she wanted and visited all the schools that contacted her.

Missouri soccer reached out to her goalkeeper coach at The Woodlands High School in Woodland, Texas, and told her they were interested in having Hollenbach on the team.

It was late in the year, but she thought, “what’s the harm? I haven’t made a decision yet.” She visited Missouri with an open mind to the possibility of committing to playing for the Tigers.

“The visit was so much different than all the others because I wasn’t on it by myself,” Hollenbach said. “Ashlyn Mills was too, and when I heard she had committed, I [started] thinking about coming here too.”

Hollenbach’s collegiate offers included the likes of Auburn, Houston and SMU. The latter two offered an opportunity to play closer to home.

Despite the proximity, what drew Hollenbach to the Tigers was the sense of family and how close the athletes on the team were. Hollenbach and Mills grew up playing on rival teams and are now best friends because of the culture that Missouri soccer has built.

“I chose here because [during] my visit, they showed me what a true family is like outside of your immediate family,” Hollenbach said.

In the 2022 season, so far, she has had three shutouts in matches against No. 21 Mississippi State, No. 23 Auburn and SEMO.

At the beginning of the season, she was named to the 2022 Southeastern Conference Soccer Preseason Watchlist out of 68 total student athletes. She is tied for third in SEC play this season and seventh in conference saves with 13.

Hollenbach earned her first accolade in her young Missouri career when she was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Oct. 3 after recording six saves in the Tigers’ game against Mississippi State.

Hollenbach is working to improve her distribution and communication on the field to hit her target every time. With the help of Assistant Coach Kelsey Wys, she has been able to figure out what her ranges are and how to improve her techniques.

“I [also] think watching film with coaches and making sure that I’m doing everything like treatment, rehab, hydration, sleep and eating helps me on the field,” Hollenbach said. “That’s everything I can possibly do to help my performance in the end.”

When she is not playing soccer, she studies in The Trulaske College of Business with hopes of going into real estate.

“I try to take advantage of the time [I have to study] and get help from our tutors,” Hollenbach said. “It’s all about staying ahead because I know that if I don’t make myself stay ahead, I’ll procrastinate and fall behind.”

Alongside her dedication toward school and team, Hollenbach values her friends and family, using time off to connect with them.

“Usually, during the spring, I try to get my family to visit [me] as much as they can,” Hollenbach said. “Whenever they can’t visit, I really like just spending time with my teammates because they are my best friends, and they’re my family here.”

Despite her brother playing soccer in Texas, they still get to hang out virtually by playing on the Xbox together. When she isn’t playing, studying or gaming, she visits the comic book stores in downtown Columbia.

“I’ve been going to try and get some new [comics] and that’s kind of how I spend my time, Xbox, comic books, family and friends,” Hollenbach said.

Once she graduates, she hopes to play professionally.

However, her backup plan is to move back to Texas near her family to do real estate.

Edited by Brandon Haynes | bhaynes@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Emily Rutledge | erutledge@themaneater.com

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