Lauren Carlini is the best setter in Wisconsin volleyball history and one of the best to ever play the position at the college level. In her four-year career in Madison, she became the Wisconsin volleyball's first four-time All-American and All-Big Ten selection. She led her team to the national championship match as a freshman, earned the Big Ten Player of the Year honor as a sophomore, led the conference in assists per set as a junior and senior, and won the 2017 AAU Sullivan Award.

After completing her final season of eligibility in December 2016, Carlini could have immediately started her professional career overseas. Instead, she chose to finish her degree at Wisconsin and continue working out and perfecting her skills in the gym so she would be prepared to jump into her first full-time season with the U.S. women's national team. In her final semester in Madison, Carlini had the unique opportunity to train with and mentor Wisconsin's incoming freshman setter Sydney Hilley, who graduated from high school early in order to kick start her college career.