Girls volleyball: Benet middle hitter Lynney Tarnow commits to Wisconsin

Lynney Tarnow only had eyes for Wisconsin before she even thought about playing college volleyball.

It’s been like a second home ever since the Benet rising junior was 8 years old and attended her first camp in Madison.

“My family actually had a lake house up there on Lake Delavan for the last 50 years, and we’d go there every summer, and one summer I just started to pick up volleyball and I went to their camp,” Tarnow said.

“When I was a kid, it was the only school in my eyes. I loved the school. I would tell my teammates when I was younger. They all knew it was my dream school.”

That dream has become a reality. Tarnow’s home away from home is now her future home.

Tarnow, a 6-foot-5 middle hitter for defending Class 4A state runner-up Benet and a Downers Grove resident, made her verbal commitment earlier this month to NCAA volleyball powerhouse Wisconsin.

Tarnow received a call with a scholarship offer the morning of June 15, had a volleyball tournament that afternoon and accepted the offer that night.

“It was just insane, a feeling like no other,” Tarnow said. “I was kind of baffled in the moment. I didn’t have words to say other than thank you so much. It’s crazy that my dream from when I was little, hoping to play college ball, was a possibility. It was really cool.”

Tarnow joins a Wisconsin program that has made five Final Four appearances since 2013 under head coach Kelly Sheffield, four since 2019 with a national championship in 2021.

“When I was a kid, it was the only school in my eyes. I loved the school. I would tell my teammates when I was younger. They all knew it was my dream school.”

—  Lynney Tarnow, Benet junior

The Badgers have a tradition of developing elite middle hitters, notably four-time All-American Dana Rettke from Riverside-Brookfield who played for the the same 1st Alliance club that Tarnow plays for.

“It’s a good fit for her,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “They like to use players in multiple fashions. She plays middle right now, but I think she is more than a middle with with the type of balls that she can attack. I think Wisconsin will get the most out of her.”

Tarnow herself was an IVCA First-Team All-Stater as a sophomore for Benet, recording a team-high 286 kills and 53 blocks. She’s rated the No. 6 player in the nation by Prep Dig. Baker has called Tarnow “one of the most dominant middle attackers we have seen in the state.”

“Kids her age just don’t see the ball and make contact and hit the angles that she does,” Baker said. “It’s rare for somebody that young to be as good as she is. She hits hard and hits shots and can do both before she should in life.

“More and more she’s not afraid of any moments. She has played up with every age level, played in two state championships, multiple club championships. She takes on those challenges and embraces them.”

Tarnow said she started getting recruiting attention from smaller schools in eighth grade and as a freshman. Things started to pick up, but she stayed humble throughout the process and kept working. She narrowed her choices and visited campuses throughout the summer before her sophomore year.

“All the pieces fell into place, and it couldn’t be better,” Tarnow said. “They [Wisconsin] said they have watched my progress. They can’t promise playing time,but they see me as a fit in their program. You see all the dominant middles that have gone through there. It’s something to be attracted to and they see that in me. Hopefully I can do that for them some day.”