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mer camp when she was in seventh grade. Tony and Gale Carlini had also taken their daughter to a few games at the UW Field House to expose her to the Big Ten Conference level of competition. Gale had played collegiately at Appalachian State in North Carolina. "I loved the whole tradition of the program and just what it was all about,'' added Carlini, who was also intrigued that the Badgers once had a player named Maria Carlini. Even though they weren't related ― Maria Carlini, a senior on the 2006 team, was from LaSalle, Ontario ― she felt it was an omen, good karma, what have you. "I thought it was really cool,'' she said. Carlini could have gone to any school in the nation but she never wavered on her commitment to Wisconsin, not even after coach Pete Waite resigned and Kelly Sheffield replaced him. "For a time there, I felt a little lost and a little confused,'' Carlini admitted. "But when I heard Coach Sheffield was coming in, I was excited. We connected pretty quickly.'' The Badgers hired Sheffield from Dayton, where he had guided the Flyers to four straight Atlantic 10 Conference championships and five straight NCAA tournament appearances. "I like the way he coaches,'' Carlini said. "He's very verbal.'' Especially when the subject is near and dear to his heart. "Lauren's a special player,'' Sheffield said. "Number one, she's an elite athlete. She's touching over 10 feet and, for a setter, there aren't a lot of people doing that. She's very strong and she's quick. "What kind of touch and feel do you have? We talk about that a lot for players. She has tremendous touch and feel. And her location (of her sets) is really, really good. "She puts the hitters in a really good position with the location of her sets. It's the difference from a quarterback being able to hit a wide receiver in stride and one that is putting it behind him. "She's able to put hitters in positions where they have full range to attack. That's really important,'' he said. "For her age, she doesn't have any weaknesses in her game, there are no holes.'' But ask ''What's next for Carlini?'' and he's quick to say, "She's got to learn the college game.'' Today's advanced technology and scouting presents one of the challenges. "It was close to home and just the perfect fit for me, "The difference between our I didn't even (officially) visit before I committed game and the game she's playing there,'' said Carlini. "I loved the whole tradition of right now is that everybody has the program and just what it was all about." 28 » VARSITY JUN E 20, 2013