MADISON, Wis. — Sunday was a big day for seniors
Lauren Carlini and
Haleigh Nelson.
Carlini, a 6-foot, 2-inch setter, picked up her 5,000th career assist in the third set against Rutgers in the UW Field House. That was just moments after her roommate and best friend Nelson, a 6-foot, 4-inch middle blocker, earned her 1,000th career kill against the Scarlet Knights in the second set.
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Two incredible milestones for two players who started their careers at Wisconsin very differently.
"It's two kids that came in here with very different spectrums," explained head coach
Kelly Sheffield. "One that got an awful lot of accolades and didn't let that go to her head and continued to work. And another one that got very little (accolades) and very little fanfare but she went to work. Both had their own unique challenges."
Carlini came to Wisconsin as the top player in the country, being named the 2012 Gatorade National Player of the Year. Nelson on the other hand was a late bloomer and as Sheffield says "I didn't think early on in her career, she'd play too much.
"To be a four-year starter and here she is an All-American with 1,000 kills in a position that not a lot of people that are getting that many kills. It shows you what a lot of hard work and belief in yourself is."
Nelson is the 20th Badger player, and just the seventh middle blocker, to hit the grand mark for kills. Earlier this season she picked up her 500th career block, making her just the fifth UW player to earn 1,000 kills and 500 blocks.
"She's a player out of Cary, North Carolina, and I think Wisconsin was the only Power Five conference that offered her a scholarship," Sheffield said of Nelson. "(Former UW head coach) Pete Waite saw a diamond in the rough and I couldn't be more appreciative of that."
Nelson earned second-team All-American honors and All-Big Ten accolades as a junior with more awards on the horizon in her final season.
For Carlini, Sheffield and most fans knew she would be the Badgers' starting setter for the next four seasons.
Carlini is just the third UW setter and the 21st Big Ten player to put up 5,000 assists. She also has more than 1,200 digs, which ranks eighth on the Badgers' record list. The Aurora, Illinois, native is just the second Wisconsin player with more than 5,000 assists and more than 1,200 digs.
Carlini has lived up to expectations as the only three-time All-American at UW. She is also a three-time All-Big Ten pick and was named the 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year.
"I'm glad I have a little bit more time with both of them," added Sheffield.
