ANDY BAGGOT Insider Related Content Varsity Magazine

With busy schedules full of classes, practices, and games, three of Wisconsin's top athletes had never met, despite sharing similar paths and accolades. Andy Baggot sat down with Lauren Carlini, Ann-Renée Desbiens, and Rose Lavelle to learn more about three of the Badgers' best heading into a weekend in which the tremendous talents of all three will be on display over the course of 24 hours in Madison.  |  From Varsity Magazine

BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

They walked into the quiet, empty lobby as strangers, which seemed odd on its surface.

Lauren Carlini, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Rose Lavelle came to Wisconsin as elite student-athletes in the fall of 2013.

They spent their first three years at UW making headlines and winning championships, all while growing into their roles as All-Americans, leaders and world-class performers.

Now they are seniors – future Olympians, perhaps – in the midst of their swan songs.

Carlini, a retailing and consumer behavior major from Aurora, Illinois, is the decorated All-American setter for the volleyball team. Desbiens, an accounting major from La Malbaie, Quebec, is the peerless record-setting goaltender for the hockey squad. Lavelle, a sociology major from Cincinnati, Ohio, is the All-American midfielder for the soccer team who earlier this year was rated the No. 1 college player in the country.

For all their shared experiences, including multiple stints with their respective national senior teams, the three women had never formally met until last week during a Sunday morning get-together at the Bennett Student-Athlete Performance Center.

"I think we've all heard of each other," Carlini said, "but we never got the chance to meet each other or hang out or do anything like that. Kind of cool. Kind of weird."

They all say they've seen the other two play in person, but their paths had never crossed – they never even had a class together – until Carlini, Desbiens and Lavelle sat down for an extended roundtable interview about their time at UW.

"It's strange," Lavelle said.

Why now? Because a rare opportunity awaits UW fans.

In a span of 24 hours this weekend, Carlini, Desbiens and Lavelle can be seen doing their thing in home competitions.

The top-ranked women's hockey team will finish a two-game Western Collegiate Hockey Association series with Ohio State at 1 p.m. Saturday at LaBahn Arena. 

The second-rated volleyball team will host a Big Ten Conference match with Illinois at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Field House.

The women's soccer team will face Iowa in a Big Ten match at 1 p.m. Sunday at the McClimon Track and Soccer Complex.

By the time the 45-minute interview was over, there were laughs, compliments and questions. There also was a joyous bond over dogs, which included an exchange of cell phone photos.

Carlini has two mutts back home – Ace, a Shar-Pei Beagle mix, and Madison, a Shar-Pei Bassett mix – and Lavelle has an English bulldog named Wilma that makes regular visits to Madison.

"They love you no matter what and you get unlimited snuggles and kisses," Carlini said of hers.

"She's going to walk out with me on Senior Day," Lavelle said of hers.

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"I think we've all heard of each other, but we never got the chance to meet each other or hang out or do anything like that. Kind of cool. Kind of weird."

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FIRST GAMES AS BADGERS
Lauren: "We played Kansas our first match and we lost. Just putting on that jersey for the first time and being able to already be a leader on that team because of the position I played, it was super nerve-wracking. I never get nervous to play, really, but I had serious butterflies from anxiety getting ready to play. It was fun, but also very nerve-wracking."

Ann-Renée: "The first game I played in LaBahn was against Team Japan. Of course, that was an exhibition game. I remember it was pretty fun to see how many fans we (got) for women's hockey because I never played women's hockey before. For me, it was way different than playing with the guys."

Rose: "We had an exhibition game versus Marquette and I actually missed a little part of the preseason because I was at a (national) training camp, so I didn't really know the team that well and that was very nerve-wracking for me because I'm always so shy in front of people I don't know and I wasn't fully comfortable yet. I'm not from Wisconsin, so I didn't really understand the Wisconsin-Marquette rivalry, so that was a really big game. We won the game 5-1, which we were not expected to do. ... I was definitely nervous, but that was a good way to kick off freshman year."

GETTING COMFORTABLE AT UW
Rose: "I'd played at a high level before, so playing-wise the adjustment wasn't too hard, but being away from home was my biggest adjustment. Not being able to see my dog. Just the drive home to see my family, the distance definitely was something that was my biggest hurdle."

Ann-Renée: "I would say for me it was definitely the language barrier. Speaking French at home and coming here for the first time, speaking English, going to classes in English, and my teammates (speaking English), my brain was fried four hours into the day. I'd need to go back to my dorm and sleep."

Lauren: "For me, the hardest part was probably school and adjusting to that, so I can't imagine trying to overcome a language barrier and trying to stay at that level of classes. That would have been so hard. Props to you, girl."

THE GREATEST MISCONCEPTION
Lauren: "I feel like you hear it a lot in classes and maybe from group members that you're with in classes, how 'Oh, man, it must be so fun to be a student-athlete. You guys get all this free stuff.' I think they forget we have just as much of a credit load as they do and they forget we have practices, we have to travel, we have lifting two, three times a week at least. When you're a freshman and sophomore, you have required study hours. There's just so many levels. It's all behind the scenes, so they don't see that. It gets very stressful at times. Sometimes you have to go take a nap to forget about everything because it's so much and it's a lot of load on you. Just being able to handle that and still go to classes and still perform well, it's a lot."

Ann-Renée: "It's like with the national teams right now. I had to miss a full week in September. … I recall my sophomore year, I had to go to the world championships in Finland in April. I went there (during) two full weeks of school and we had the Frozen Four before (that), so it was three weeks of school that I missed in a row. I had to take exams over there. All the older girls (on the national team) could go (sightseeing) and I'm stuck in my hotel room. … It's awesome that we're able to do all that, but they don't realize how much extra work it is."

Rose: "I had (exams on the road) a lot last year. I probably got like five or six proctored. It's definitely a bummer when you want to go on a trip and just enjoy being with your team, and you have to worry about taking this exam. It's also nice for the university to be accommodating and I'd much rather do that than go back and worry about it."

THE GLARE OF THE SPOTLIGHT
Rose: "It's something you get used to. I remember freshman year, I was so bad at it. I hated it, but I got used to it and just embraced it. There's not much you can do. I'm not going to turn down somebody who wants to interview (me)."

Ann-Renée: "I think the challenge is we're all in (team sports). We all get a lot of attention, but sometimes I get frustrated because people forget you're a team, too, and there's other players around you. I know for myself, it's a question of 'Hey, you did that.' But they don't realize all the players I have in front of me that make what I do possible. I know last year (in the midst of setting an NCAA single-season record with 21 shutouts) I got frustrated because the questions were always the same. If you ask me the same question over and over, the answer's not going to change."

Lauren: "I was kind of used to it from my senior year in high school (when she was the Gatorade National Player of the Year), but it was just a whole other level. At first I was kind of jittery and a little nervous – I have to make sure I say the right things and do the rights things – but as I've gotten older, I've learned to be myself and answer questions honestly. Like (Ann- Renée) said, it's so frustrating when people only want to talk about you when we're all in team sports."



WHAT ABOUT OTHER SPORTS GROWING UP?
Lauren: "I played a lot of sports when I was in elementary school and then I basically narrowed it down to volleyball and softball. By my eighth-grade year, I decided between the two. I just figured which one was going to get me farther in life and which one makes me more happy to play. I choose volleyball and that was that."

Ann-Renée: "I grew up playing hockey with my siblings, either in the basement or outside. We all loved doing it, so that's what we did."

Rose: "I played a lot growing up, but I mainly rotated between soccer and basketball. I was never that serious about basketball. I just enjoyed playing it. I kind of knew the whole time I wanted to play soccer. I gave up basketball my freshman year to focus solely on soccer."

JUST BEING CURIOUS
Lauren: "So, for volleyball, we watch a lot of film on what other teams do, defenses and all this stuff. We always ask other athletes, 'Do you watch film?' If they do, we ask, 'What do you watch?'"

Rose: "I've always wonder that, too. We watch a lot of tactical stuff. The other team's set pieces, their attacking tendencies and their defensive tendencies and how we can beat them. There's a lot that goes into it."

Ann-Renée: "We definitely do, too. Power plays and (penalty kill) because a lot of teams have different ones."

BECOMING A ROLE MODEL
Lauren: "There's a tradition at the Field House where, before every match, all the little kids come and line up around the court. … We're three rows deep of kids just wanting to touch our hand before a game. That's when I first realized that, wow, this is a big deal to families and little kids here. Whenever we do autograph sessions, they're always like, 'Oh, my God, can you sign this?' They're the best fans. They're so loyal no matter what."

Ann-Renée: "There's like two families with kids that always come to home games that made the (season-opening) trip to St. Cloud (Minnesota). They came to Bemidji and North Dakota one year. I was like, 'This is dedication.' I think that's when I realize that you smiling at them … means the world to them. … You don't realize that what we do has the impact that it has."

Rose: "I actually had a chance to work the camps this summer and I feel like that put it in a whole new perspective because they will do anything you tell them. I realized it before – I've had fans ask for autographs before and you see how happy it makes them – but when you're in a role where you have to tell them what to do, and you could tell them to go roll around in a mud puddle and they'd do it, it's awesome."

NATIONAL TEAMS vs. COLLEGE COMPETITION
Rose: "For me, the biggest thing is that speed of play is a lot faster when you play at the national level."

Ann-Renée: "I'm lucky here because I have other national team members with me (center Emily Clark and winger Sarah Nurse for Team Canada; winger Annie Pankowski for Team USA) so I get to practice against them all the time. When you're on the ice at the national camp, it's like facing the best player on your team all the time. They're always the best coming at me, so you can't take a break. … You always have people evaluating you and anything you do on and off the ice."

Lauren: "With volleyball, everyone's a little bit bigger and stronger and, like Rose said, the game's faster. It's the other level that you have to take it to, kind of like that jump from high school to college. The culture's also a little bit different. I don't know if it's just volleyball or other sports as well, but that's your job. That's how you get paid. That's your life. So people take it very seriously and it's all about you wanting to win that spot. So there's not as much team chemistry."

ARE YOU TOUGH?
Lauren: "Oh, yeah. I got ripped on national television the other night and I just had to take it and say, 'OK, I've got to be better.' … We saw things in film and (Purdue was) doing those things and I was setting people I wasn't supposed to be setting and putting them in bad positions. I did it a few times after (UW coach Kelly Sheffield) told me not to, so he called a time out, and he was like, 'Get over here.' He laid into me about needing to play like I normally play and stop over thinking and over-analyzing things. That's being tough, going out and playing better and not just trying to crumple."

Ann-Renée: "Just putting yourself in front of that puck that's coming at you, I feel like you need to be tough in one sense because you're definitely going to get a couple bruises at the end of the day. Knowing I'm the last line of defense technically, so if you break down every time, it's going in the net. If you let one in, you have to make sure you're right back on task."

Rose: "All of us can say that just being in the roles we're in, like being leaders on the team, and how you respond to setbacks or you do something bad or the coach yells at you, is tough. The team looks at that because they're looking to you during these times when they need it the most. That's when you have to be the toughest."



ON BECOMING A NATURAL LEADER
Rose: "I kind of had to step out of my comfort zone. I'm more one of those people who tries to lead by example on the field and off the field. I was never a big talker. … I think I've definitely embraced it after this past season."

Ann-Renée: "Definitely not something I was used to. Playing with guys, (they) were definitely more vocal and had stronger personalities. … It's definitely new for me."

Lauren: "I'm kind of a control freak, so I feel like I need to have control of the situation. That's one thing I've gotten better at. In high school I was so mean; I'd just yell at people all the time. That was not a good way to try to get people involved and lead other people. They have to want to play for you. As I've gotten older, I've definitely developed as a leader and I've learned when to say my piece and when to let them have their moment."

YOUR PLAYER, COACH RELATIONSHIP
Rose: "Paula (Wilkins) was a huge reason why I came here. I had her as a coach previously in high school and had loved her as a coach and a person. I have a very good relationship with her, and it's something that I'm actually really sad about because I know that when I leave this place I'm not going to have the same relationship with her."

Ann-Renée: "Everyone knows Mark (Johnson) and his reputation and everything he did, so it's definitely nice to have someone who knows how to win as a player and as a coach. He understands the game and knows what players go through. He's definitely a quiet human being. The assistants (Dan Koch and Jackie Friesen) do most of the talking to us, but you can easily read his body language and know what he thinks without him saying it."

Lauren: "I love Kelly. I lucked into getting him honestly because the old coach, Pete Waite, left my senior year (of high school). I think the best way to describe it is during the Purdue match he got on me a few times during timeouts and after we got on the bus, we hugged it out and talked about it. We have this dynamic where we can challenge each other and I know that he still cares about me and still loves me as a person and I think that's what's great."

A STORY YOU'LL LIKE TELLING 20 YEARS FROM NOW
Rose: "A big one for me was last season. We got off on a very poor foot (3-4-3) and we ended up going on an eight-game winning streak and winning the Big Ten title. It was really cool to see how it's not how you start, but how you finish. Seeing the resilience of that team was so cool."

Ann-Renée: "Just all the support we receive here. Being able to succeed on the ice and in school was something I really cared about coming here. They were definitely able to give it to me. In 20 years, I'll still have my degree from here. … It's pretty fun to know you have support within the athletic department, but also in the community in general. That's something you can't find anywhere else."

Lauren: "I hope the best is yet to come this senior year, but if it doesn't, then I'll probably look back to my freshman year and the run to the national championship. Even though we lost that match, it was such a great journey. Like Rose, we had a rocky season. We lost (10) matches that season. Just the fight of that team and the determination we had that whole season and postseason was something I'll never forget."

THAT ELUSIVE GOAL
Lauren: "I'm in the same spot now as a senior as I was when I was a senior in high school. I hadn't won anything in high school, and so for me during club, I was like, 'I have to win a national championship or else I will feel like I didn't accomplish anything.' That was the end goal. … Luckily I ended up winning it – we got it my senior year – and I try not to think about it like that now. Because I've had such a great experience here. We've had so many great runs and we won a Big Ten championship. I don't think it's the end-all, be-all that we win a national championship, but it would be nice."

Ann-Renée: "We definitely want to win it. We're ranked No. 1 right now and we've been to the Frozen Four every year that I've been here and lost in the semifinals to the (Minnesota) Gophers every year. But like Lauren said, it's not going to define my career here at Wisconsin. I know that whatever happens at the end of the season, I gave my best out there and I'll be proud for whatever happens. It might not be the ending I want, but at the end of the day when you take a step back, I know my class and myself, we can be proud of what happened during these four seasons."

Rose: "I personally don't ever want to walk off the field wishing I could have done this or should have done this. That's been a big focus for me every game is making sure I'm laying everything out there on the field, so after my last game here I don't walk off wishing I'd done something else. … It wouldn't be the end-all, be-all, but if we could win a Big Ten championship again, that would be incredible."