PARIS — When the U.S. women’s volleyball team beat Poland in straight sets Tuesday, setter Lauren Carlini threw her arms into the air and ran onto the court, celebrating far more than just advancing to the semifinals.
Nearly 72 hours earlier, the Aurora native’s entire Olympics was in jeopardy because of a back injury that left her unable to bend over or move easily. Carlini had waited so long and worked so hard to be here, but she knew there was only one thing she could do: she had to be honest about her injury with the coaching staff, even if it meant an abrupt end to her Paris Games.
“The only thing that mattered was what was best for the team,” Carlini said. “I asked myself ‘Can I go out there and help the team?’ After (that first game), I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do my job.”
Instead, Carlini, 29, sat in the stands for the rest of pool play, watching the games closely and using a headset to communicate what she saw happening on the court. She also worked intensely with Team USA’s medical staff to get herself back into playing shape.
The team won’t comment on the exact nature of her injury, beyond saying it’s a back issue that developed after the loss to China on July 29. Carlini said her treatment included physical therapy and medicine, but declined to go into detail.
As her condition began to improve, the coaching staff put her through a series of drills to ensure her body could handle the physical demands of the game. With the team’s starting setter, Jordyn Poulter coming back from a major knee injury, the coaches needed to be sure Carlini could go the distance if Poulter couldn’t play.
If Carlini faltered during the skills test, the team would continue with official alternate Micha Hancock, who played two pool games in Carlini’s stead. A new position for 2024, the official alternate is a non-competing athlete who can serve as a last-minute replacement if a player is unable to compete due to injury or illness.
The replaced player — Carlini, in this case — would be allowed to return later in the tournament.
“I had to go have a five-on-one practice with the coaches and myself so that I could do all the movements, do all the things I needed to do in order to do my job and perform to the highest of my ability,” she said. “Luckily, that was the case.”
Carlini returned to action Tuesday, playing in the win-or-go-home quarterfinal match against Poland. She looked solid each time she was subbed into the rotation, appearing to move easily — even diving after a ball.
The moment she left the court, however, she wrapped a heating and vibration device around her lower torso to keep her back warm.
“She did great,” U.S. women’s head coach Karch Kiraly said after the match. “It’s pretty gnarly to jump into a knockout Olympic quarterfinal match and handle it like she did.”
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Carlini is expected to be available for Thursday’s semifinal match against Brazil, a continuation of her hard-fought dream to play in the Olympics.
The West Aurora High School graduate has been part of the U.S. system since she was a teenager on the youth national team. The 2012 Gatorade national player of the year in volleyball, she signed with Wisconsin and joined a program that had not made the NCAA tournament in five years.
In her first year, she led the Badgers to the NCAA finals and made the all-tournament team. She would go on to become a three-time All-American and help transform Wisconsin into a national powerhouse.
“We’ve never been the same as a program since Lauren came here,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield told the Tribune. “We’ve had a lot of great players come through here, but nobody has been more important to the program’s history than Lauren Carlini.”
In 2017, Carlini won the Sullivan Award for best amateur athlete in any sport in the United States. She was the first volleyball player to receive the honor.
Her success led to a position on the U.S. national team and a dream to make the 2020 Olympic team. Her plan took a nightmarish turn, however, when she was the last person cut from the Tokyo squad, a decision in which both the coaches and her teammates had input.
“There can’t be too many more painful things than that,” Sheffield said. “It was heartbreaking … but she got right back in the gym with the team and was in the gym training with them every day to help them reach their goal. It tells you a lot about her character.”
Carlini said she dedicated the next Olympic cycle to improving her game and figuring out what she needed to do to play in 2024.
“The message was I wasn’t ‘there yet’ for Tokyo. And I think the power of ‘yet’ and how powerful that word felt at that time, was hard,” Carlini said before the opening ceremony in Paris. “I knew I was going another round, so I asked myself what I could do in order to get better, in order to reach this next level. The past three years I’ve just been chipping away and working at it.”
With its quarterfinal win, the U.S. women’s volleyball team has guaranteed itself a shot at playing for a medal. Carlini, for her part, will continue to work on making her back stronger so she can remain part of the final push.
“It felt great not only to be a part of the win, but just to physically be able to perform and do my job. That’s all I can ask for,” she said after the match. “I’m looking forward to getting some recovery and getting back out there.”
