If you thought your family competitions or pick-up games were competitive while growing up, welcome to the Luft family.

Kathleen Luft, an outside hitter for Georgia volleyball, grew up in the shadow of not one gifted athlete – but rather four under the same roof.

“It was definitely fun [while growing up], me and both of my brothers are all athletic so we were always going out and playing sports and competing with each other,” said Luft, a true freshman from Thousand Oaks, Calif.

It would be hard to blame any of the three Luft kids for their athleticism or competitiveness, it is in their blood.

Her father, Brian Luft, played football at the University of Southern California and was the fifth round NFL draft pick of the New York Jets in 1985. Her mother, Donna, ran track for the Trojans.

“That was one of the early conversations we had with Kathleen was the USC connection, with her dad playing football there and her mom being an athlete as well,” said assistant coach Chad Hanson. “So early on we knew that she had the pedigree of being a Division I athlete.”

Despite the obvious family ties and growing up around the campus of USC – her father worked for the university after his playing career – Luft claims that her college choice was left up to her.

“It would have been awesome to go [to USC], but it was never really a dream of mine to go there,” Luft said. “I love it here at Georgia, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a college.”

Luft has not had the opportunity to prove anything to her coaches so far on the court while in Athens, as she is still recovering from an injury to her ACL while back in high school.

Despite inching closer to being fully healed, she will take the entire season off with a medical redshirt.

“I was hurt my whole junior year and half of my senior year, and that’s when Georgia picked me up,” said Luft, who had previously been committed to another program. “I have a couple weeks left until I am all better.”

As other schools dropped off after the injury during recruitment, Georgia coaches stayed the course while trying to reel in who they think could be a major contributor in years to come.

“We knew in the recruiting process that she was a great athlete and we saw her potential with our program . that made us take the plunge and say ‘Here’s our commitment to you, we will redshirt you this first year and get you healthy and then move forward,’” Hanson said.

One of her brothers, Matt, is now a senior at Harvard University and a two-time All-Ivy League wide receiver entering this season. Since being among the nation’s leaders in receiving yards per game last season, he has received attention as an NFL prospect.

Standing at six-foot-six, Matt would probably be one of the last people anyone would want to go against in any sport and certainly not in volleyball.

But Kathleen, obviously keeping the sibling rivalry alive and well from over one thousand miles away, is not backing down. When asked who has the advantage on a volleyball court, she responded with a simple, “me, of course.”

Confidence must run in the family as well.