Following in the footsteps of her parents, freshman Claire Raddatz still had to earn her spot on the Wisconsin volleyball team. Attending UW has been a lifelong dream for Raddatz and the dream has finally come true this year.

The defensive specialist/libero went to Homestead High School in Mequon, where she played varsity volleyball for all four years and also played for the Milwaukee Sting volleyball club.

“When I was younger, I was really tall and everyone told me I should play volleyball and I only wanted to play soccer,” Raddatz said. “I tried one time; my uncle owns a volleyball club in Indiana and he gave me a volleyball and showed me how to do some stuff. I instantly fell in love with it and I never looked back.”

But suiting up for the Badgers was not something Raddatz thought of overnight. She had already spent plenty of time on campus thanks to her parents, who are both former Badgers.

Her father, Craig Raddatz, was a Badger football player in the ’80s, and the Cincinnati Bengals drafted him in the ninth round of the 1987 draft.

“I grew up always loving Wisconsin sports and athletics, going to a lot of events and volleyball games,” Raddatz said. “Getting the chance to be here and doing it just like my dad and my parents’ alma mater is a really cool feeling. It’s the school I would’ve chosen regardless if [my parents] had come here or not. This is a great school and I love it.”

With both parents going to the same school, it would seem there would be some pressure on their child to follow them, but Raddatz’s parents maintained an open mind.

The UW freshman was told to look wherever she wanted, that there was no pressure to go to Madison. But when Raddatz decided to come here, her parents were excited.

Since choosing Wisconsin, Raddatz has experienced firsthand the difficult change from high school to college that nearly every freshman experiences. And playing a sport adds a whole other element to an already challenging transition.

“[College volleyball] is a ton faster; it’s a lot more competitive,” Raddatz said. “We travel almost every other weekend, the season is longer, but I’m enjoying it a lot.”

As a freshman, she said it is helpful to have older teammates point her in the right direction and show her how the collegiate game works.

“They helped me a lot. They teach me skills when coaches aren’t around, give me tips and stuff,” Raddatz said. “A lot of them help me with time management … which is really nice to have older teammates showing me the ropes of college.”

So far this season, Raddatz has played sparingly, but she looks for more playing time in the future. UW head coach Pete Waite said she is mostly working on the scout team as a freshman, a common role for first-year players.

Waite added playing a supporting role to the starters is what most freshmen do because they still need to improve skills in all areas on the court. In the spring, players focus more on technique, which is when Raddatz and fellow freshman defensive specialist Victoria Ito will refine their skills.

Ito, the only other freshman on the Badger volleyball team, didn’t meet Raddatz until the nationals tournament during high school. Since August, when the freshmen first joined the UW team for preseason practices, the two have grown very close.

Ito praised Raddatz for her work ethic and the efforts she makes to talk to the team and keep it motivated. But the difficulty of being the youngest members of the team doesn’t faze either Raddatz or Ito.

“[There is] pressure to come in and be as good as [the older girls] and be at the level they’re at because they were a team; they all played together before and Victoria and I didn’t,” Raddatz said. “We have to come in being at that level and adjust quickly because there’s not a lot of leeway.”

Ito added older teammates have helped to not only relieve some of that pressure but also to encourage them to continue to put in the work necessary to become key contributors in the future.

“I hope for a lot of success for Claire in the future. Each player really improves a lot over the first year, year-and-a-half in the program once they get in the weight room, once they get working on the skills and get used to the pace of the college game,” Waite said. “She’s one who doesn’t shy away from anything, so that’s something that will benefit her down the road.”

As a defensive specialist, Raddatz has her work cut out for her. According to Waite, the team has plenty of talent defensively, so she will have to prove she deserves time on the court.

When the spring arrives, she will have an opportunity to do just that.

“Once I started playing volleyball and went to a Wisconsin volleyball game, I always wanted to come here,” Raddatz said. “It’s always been my goal.”