Lauren Carlini
The Wisconsin Badger women’s volleyball team, which starts the 2016 season ranked fourth in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason national poll, was picked to finish third in the 2016 Big Ten Conference standings.
Reigning NCAA champion Nebraska was projected to win the league, while 2015 Big Ten champion Minnesota was picked to finish second.
Wisconsin seniors Lauren Carlini and Haleigh Nelson were both named to the 2016 Preseason All-Big Ten Conference Volleyball team by a vote of league coaches.
Carlini, a 6’2 setter, was one of four unanimous preseason picks. The two-time reigning Big Ten Setter of the Year and 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year, Carlini led the conference and ranked seventh nationally as a junior with 11.91 assists per set.
Haleigh Nelson
Carlini earned her third straight preseason All-Big Ten selection, ranking third all-time at Wisconsin with 4,158 career assists. She also ranks fifth in school annals in assists per set with 11.42 and ninth in digs per set with 2.88. Carlini is UW’s first three-time All-American, earning second-team honors as a freshman.
Nelson is a 6’4 middle blocker. She earned second-team All-America honors last season as a junior after earning honorable mention accolades as a sophomore. She earned All-Big Ten selection in 2015, leading the Badgers and ranking second in the Big Ten with a .422 hitting percentage. In conference-only matches, she led the league with a .432 hitting percentage and ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 1.23 blocks per set.
Nelson ranked first in program history with a career hitting percentage of .367. She also ranks seventh in blocks per set (1.22), eighth in block assists (422) and ninth in total blocks.