For redshirt freshman Nikki Klingsporn, the athletic gene runs in the family.

Both of Klingsporn's parents have athletic pasts. Her mother played volleyball and basketball at North Dakota State and is a member of the school's Hall of Fame, while her father also played basketball in college.

It is this athletic family background that led head coach Pete Waite to recruit her to come play volleyball at the University of Wisconsin.

"Her mom was her volleyball coach all through high school, and her dad was the boys' basketball coach," Waite said. "She comes from a family that talks sports all the time and is very dedicated to it. She has a great personality. She loves volleyball and has a passion for it. We think she runs the team well."

Klingsporn came in right way and immediately impressed her teammates, especially her fellow setters.

"Nikki has always had great hands," setter Jackie Simpson said. "She came in right away, and Katie (Lorenzen) and I were both like, 'Wow.' It kind of took us back and made us kind of nervous."

However, with two established setters in Simpson and Lorenzen already in the program, Klingsporn decided to redshirt her freshman year. During that time, she adjusted to the collegiate game.

"[Redshirting] gave me the opportunity to watch some really great setters and watch how much faster pace the collegiate level is," Klingsporn said. "I kind of just sat back and learned things from Jackie and Katie last year."

With her redshirt year now behind Klingsporn, Waite already sees the benefits of her sitting out a year.

"[Klingsporn] has gotten a lot stronger physically," Waite said. "She has worked really hard at getting her hands up early to prepare to set, and it's resulted in her being more consistent with her setting and better location.

"Overall, it was just great for her to see every Big Ten away site, see what it is like on the road and get used to everything."

Klingsporn also used the past year to learn from the setters ahead of her.

"[I learned] how to incorporate running the middle more and the more faster pace of the offense," Klingsporn said. "Just learning the plays and that sort of stuff really helped out."

Even though Simpson has started the majority of the games the last three years, Klingsporn is trying to prove to her coaches that she belongs on the court just as much as Simpson does.

"I know [Klingsporn] wants to be fighting for a starting spot; there is no doubt about it," Waite said. "They are two different setters, and on any given day, one will be setting better than the other and finding her hitters better, so we are looking at who can play the best defense out there and who can lead the team, and we'll see where the cards fall next year."

Besides working hard to improve her setting, Klingsporn has also worked hard on her service game, developing a wicked jump serve.

"I started jump serving my junior year in high school, and it was something that I found I was pretty successful at," Klingsporn said. "I came here and started working on it, and I've gotten a lot stronger at it."

The hard work Klingsporn has put in on her service game has already paid off. In splitting time with Simpson so far this spring in the team's four matches, Klingsporn has had nine service aces and developed her serve into one of the team's weapons that could help her get on the court more.

"She has an amazing jump serve," Simpson said. "That is something that really throws some teams off. She rallied like 17 straight points when we were playing in Iowa, and that is something our team hasn't seen in a while, … a really good, consistent jump server."

Even though Klingsporn has developed her game over the last year, she is never satisfied. That is why it is no surprise that she has one simple goal for the upcoming year.

"Get better every day of practice," Klingsporn said.