Humble Hawkeye: Erin Radke, Sioux Falls Lincoln

by Kolbe Nelson
November 14, 2011 6:37 PM


It's easy to get a little on the arrogant side when you're really good at what you do, but that hasn't been the case with Lincoln's outstanding vollayball player, our Taco John's Athlete of the Week, Erin Radke.

"The reason that Erin is such a good player is because she knows that she has a lot of things to work on," Lincoln Head Coach Erika Paladino-Hazlett says, "And she never thinks she's better than anyone else."

Radke has used that humble attitude and drive to get better to attain a scholarship to the University of Iowa.

"It was really the place that I always wanted to go and it was always my dream so to be able to actually say that I reached my biggest goal of going there," Radke says, "I'm so lucky."

The first thing Radke did when she vebally committed was tell her teammates. They couldn't believe it.

"I remember one of the first things they said when they were coming out of the locker room, 'Do you remember when Erin couldn't even walk? Because she was so uncoordinated?'" Paladino-Hazlett says, "And now she's going to the University of Iowa."

She can walk and then some now. Leading the team in kills, the senior has been at the forefront of a Patriot team that went 19-3 in the regular season and is one of the top contenders for the state championship crown. No matter how big her role is though, Radke maintains she's just one part of a great team.

"Being a senior on the team, we're all leaders." Radke says, "And I think each teammate even if you're on the court, off the court, no matter what role you play, to our team you're always important, no matter what."

There's a good chance she'll feel the same way when she's a Hawkeye.

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