Creating a lifelong legacy isn’t easy to do. A Huskie legacy and tradition is something the Radtke sisters, Jenna and Jori, are currently building with their volleyball careers at NIU.

The legacy began in Aug. 2010 when Jenna Radtke, a sophomore at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, began playing volleyball. She had become dissatisfied with cheerleading and playing soccer, mostly because of the running.

However, she knew very little about volleyball as she hadn’t played before.

Jenna said she came a long way in learning the game in a short time throughout her high school career.

“Everyone would roll their eyes if I messed up [because] I just didn’t know what I was doing,” Jenna said. “So, I put in extra work, [and] my coach put a lot of effort into me. One tournament he said ‘hey look, a college coach is interested in you.’ and I was like ‘what?’ I don’t even know if I wanted to do this. I started to fall in love with it, and all of my hard work ended up paying off.”

Jenna was recruited by several teams, including NIU, Illinois State and Kent State, but NIU was the first school Jenna visited and the first to offer her a full scholarship. Jenna said NIU stuck out to her and was happy it was close to home in Buffalo Grove.

“As I went on to visit other schools, I always had [NIU] in the back of my mind [and] compared every [college visit] to [NIU],” Jenna said. “I think that was just a big sign, and it was so close to home and family is very important to me.”

Jenna chose to sign with NIU, and with the leadership and guidance of then-senior Sarah Angelos, Jenna learned what it would take to become a great player, teammate and have a passion for the game. Jenna took these lessons and became one of the fixtures of NIU volleyball for four years.

After earning Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Honors in 2013, receiving First Team All-MAC honors for three years from 2014-16 and winning the MAC Conference Player of the Year in 2016, the same season in which she led the Huskies to their first conference tournament championship since 2001, it was clear Jenna had a large impact on the NIU volleyball program.

“Jenna made her mark here developing over a period of time,” Head Coach Ray Gooden said. “She didn’t start off as a blue-chip kid. She had to work at it and learn over a period of time to understand it. By the time she was a senior, she was one of the best players in our league.”

Freshman outside hitter and Jenna’s young sister, Jori Radtke, said Jenna put her footprint on NIU volleyball and called her a poster child.

“She was very successful, and she was a hard worker,” Jori said. “I know that [the team] strives to be as successful as she was. I strive to be just the most versatile player that I can be, just like she was. She’s inspired me, and I hope to inspire people too [on] work ethic and how NIU volleyball should look.”

Jori joined the NIU volleyball program this fall. While she looks to build her own legacy distant from her older sister, she plans to do so in a way that’s very similar to Jenna’s approach.

“I just want to show people how to work hard,” Jori said. “I want to also be the poster child, just like Jenna. I want to make an impact as much as I can with being a great teammate, a great leader and, of course, with skill too.”

Jenna said one of Jori’s challenges is the mental side of the game and making adjustments from high school to college.

“[Jori] has the skill, but mentally, she just needs to be smart,” Jenna said. “She gets frustrated with herself a little bit just because she’s not that best player [currently]. I try to tell her that so she can understand, and I think she’s starting to understand it, and it’s getting a lot better.”

Jori won’t be burdened with having to learn the game on the fly as a collegiate player. She’s played since she was in the seventh grade, twice the amount of experience as Jenna had before NIU.

After going through periods of time early in the 2017 where she saw inconsistent playing time, Jori received more playing time as the season concluded. She developed as a third scoring option, third on the team in kills per set with 1.81 kills, behind junior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz and freshman outside hitter Kaylee Martin.

“Jori has a skillset where she can continue to learn, develop and grow and have a successful career here as well,” Gooden said. “They [Jori and Jenna] both had potential, one had and one has potential. Jenna was able to show hers, Jori is continuing to work on hers day-by-day.”

Jori knows her and Jenna have built something special and wants their legacy to be remembered for the values and lessons they brought to the program, not the results.

“I just hope that people think about us as great people,” Jori said. “Obviously as great volleyball players, but just great people, teammates and leaders. We worked hard to be where we are, and it wasn’t just handed to us.”

Both players said they strive to be role models future NIU athletes can aspire to be. Jenna’s departure from NIU closed one chapter in the Radtke volleyball legacy. Jori not only has the opportunity to continue the Radtke legacy, but can add her own chapter to it.