The middle blocker is one of the most difficult positions to play in volleyball, but redshirt senior Dominique Thompson has manned that position for Wisconsin the last four seasons.

Those who play the position must be tall yet agile to cover a lot of the court and transition quickly along the net. The team’s defense relies on the middle blocker to get some kind of a touch or block on the ball while it’s being cranked to its side of the court.

It’s tough to talk about the Badger defense without talking about the senior middle blocker. Thompson is one of the smaller middle blockers in the Big Ten. She stands at only 5-foot-11, while most middle blockers tower over 6 feet tall. But Thompson’s height is deceptive compared to the dexterity of her play. She leads the team’s defensive net play with 33 blocks. On the offensive end, Thompson averages 2.34 kills per set and has a total of 82 kills so far this season.

Off the court, Thompson spent a week and a half in Minneapolis training with the U.S. Collegiate National team, where she won a silver medal during the competitive round-robin matches.

After Thompson redshirted during the 2012-2013 season, her statistics significantly improved the following year as a junior. Head coach Kelly Sheffield said Thompson is one of his hardest working players, who seems to have it all figured out.

“She’s an active learner,” Sheffield said. “She wants to get better, and when you’re in this profession, you want to be around people who really want to get better.”

As a senior on the team, Thompson has showed a great amount of leadership and encouragement towards her younger teammates, especially those also playing middle blocker, Sheffield said.

“We’ve got two younger ones, Tori [Blake] and Haleigh [Nelson], and she does a great job of helping them and teaching them and mentoring them,” Sheffield said. “You can tell that’s very important to her as well.”

Athleticism is in Thompson’s blood. Her mother and father are both successful athletes. Her father played football from 1986-1989 at the University of Minnesota and went on to become the first-round draft pick for the Green Bay Packers in 1990, playing there professionally for five years. But volleyball is a particularly genetic trait for Thompson. Her grandpa, uncle, aunt and mother have all played competitive volleyball. Even Thompson’s sister, Indigo, is currently a setter at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Thompson attributes her persistence and success in volleyball to her family, saying they’ve always pushed her to perform to the best of her ability, even when she was a little kid playing outside in her backyard.

It’s easy to assume that someone who is so talented at something has loved it from the very beginning, but that’s not the case for Thompson. A surplus of volleyball players in the family caused her to turn away from the sport and focus on basketball from an early age. During her first year of high school, Thompson began to change her mind on which sport she wanted to pursue.

“When I was younger, I did not want to play volleyball because there was so much volleyball in my family,” Thompson said. “But I started my freshman year, and it just clicked for me. My coaches gave me little bits of information at a time, and I kept absorbing it, and I realized that what I wanted to do was play the sport of volleyball.”

Thompson plans to graduate from UW in the spring with a degree in community and non-profit leadership. She says she may move back to her home state of Minnesota and work for a non-profit organization there after graduating but still stay involved with volleyball in some way.

“I will somehow stay connected with volleyball,” Thompson said. “I love volleyball. It’s something that I really know.”

Wherever the future may take her, Thompson said she’s enjoyed her time playing Division I volleyball at Wisconsin and will carry the memories she’s made with her for the rest of her life.

“I think that Wisconsin is the ultimate college sports town,” Thomson said. “It’s amazing to be able to play for these people who love this college so much. Division I, it’s the best. I love it.  I’ve loved it all four years.”

Not only has Thompson helped her team to a national championship game, but off the court, she presents herself as a leader and teacher that her teammates and coaches look up to.

“You like to be around really good people, good character people,” Sheffield said about Thompson. “Before even being on the court, you know that you’re around somebody who you have a lot of respect for as a human being.”