6'4"
37
Ann Arbor
Texas
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2015 - Pan American Cup (Gold)... FIVB World Grand Prix preliminary round... Pan American Games (Gold). 2014 - Montreux Volley Masters (Silver)...USA Volleyball Cup vs Brazil. 2013 - Pan American Cup (Gold)...USA Volleyball Cup...FIVB World Grand Prix (6th)...NORCECA Championship (Gold)...FIVB Grand Champions Cup (Silver). 2012 - Pan American Cup (Gold). 2010 – Tour of Brazil. 2009 – FIVB World Grand Prix (9th). 2008 – Tour of China…Pan American Cup (Fifth Place).
INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS: 2015 - Started all seven Team USA matches at the Pan American Cup leading the Americans to the gold medal... Scored 71 points in 22 sets during the Pan Am Cup, including a 0.68 block average for fifth best in the tournament... Started four matches in the Pan American Games, averaging 2.29 points in helping the Americans win the gold medal. 2014 - Provided 10 kills, four blocks and three aces for 17 points during the Montreux Volley Masters. 2013 - Started 12 matches and played in 68 of 118 sets during 2013 with a 2.56 scoring average that included a 49.8 kill percent and team-leading .381 hitting efficiency…Played in six sets during Pan American Cup, highlighted by a 10-point match in a sweep of Brazil on June 15, which included nine kills on 12 attacks and an ace in the semifinal victory…Played in nine sets of the USA Volleyball Cup versus Japan with one match start…Scored team-high 12 points off the bench versus Japan on July 12, which included 10 kills on 19 attacks and two blocks…Added 14 points versus Japan on July 13, including 12 kills on 21 errorless attacks and two blocks…Averaged 3.22 points per set in USA Volleyball Cup…Started four of 14 matches of FIVB World Grand Prix, averaging 1.72 points per set with a 46.8 kill percent…Tallied 11 points with 10 kills on 20 attacks versus Japan on Sept. 1…Scored nine kills on 11 attacks as a reserve in five-set win over Bulgaria on Aug. 18…Helped the U.S. win the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship as she averaged 2.91 points with a 45.0 kill percent while starting two of four matches and playing in 11 of 13 sets...Scored 11 points in NORCECA gold-medal match against Dominican Republic, including four blocks…Started all five matches of FIVB Grand Champions Cup, producing a 3.18 scoring average with a .337 hitting efficiency (42-13-86)…Recorded a personal-high 21 points with a .458 hitting efficiency (14-3-24) and four blocks versus Dominican Republic on the final day to help secure the Grand Champions Cup silver medal. 2012 – Played in 16 sets of the Pan American Cup with two starts…Converted 20 of 40 attacks into kills with a .425 hitting efficiency for the tournament, including a combined 10-of-15 versus Puerto Rico and Cuba without an attack error…Contributed eight points off the bench versus Brazil in the gold-medal match. 2010 - Started the second match of the Tour of Brazil, scoring seven points with three kills, three aces and a block. 2009 – Scored 23 points in a two-match tour of Egypt in April…Scored 15 points (13 kills, 1 ace, 1 block) versus Egypt on April 10…Added eight points (5 kills, 2 aces) in two sets versus Egypt on April 12… Played in two matches and three sets of the Pool I leg of the FIVB World Grand Prix…Provided a kill on her only attack attempt of the World Grand Prix against Russia. 2008 - Scored 11 points during a three-week, eight-match tour of China...Tallied four kills on seven attempts without an error in three sets played at the Pan American Cup.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2008 – Named American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America First-Team…Contributed 355.5 points as Texas reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals in her senior season…Credited with set averages of 3.26 points, 2.63 kills, 0.86 blocks, 0.14 aces and 0.53 digs…Compiled a .478 hitting efficiency, which ranked second in the NCAA and set a school single-season mark…Finished career with over 1,000 kills and 400 total blocks. 2007 – Selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Third Team as a junior…Named All-Big 12 First Team…Appeared in all 103 games and 31 matches on the Texas schedule…Averaged 3.65 points, 2.90 kills and 1.28 blocks per game…Led Longhorns in hitting percentage (.418) and blocks (130), finished third in kills (301). 2006 – Started at middle blocker in 20 of 31 matches. 2005 – As a freshman, appeared in 28 matches and averaged 3.03 points and 2.43 kills per game while hitting .261 in a split role between outside hitter and opposite.
OTHER USA VOLLEYBALL EXPERIENCE: Led U.S. Women’s National A2 Team to a second-place finish at the 2007 USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships…Named All-Tournament at the 2007 USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships in the Open Division…Member of the 2004 and 2005 USA Junior National A2 Team.
CLUB/PREP CAREER: Started club volleyball experience with Go Blue Volleyball Club in 1999, then moved to the Toledo Volleyball Club as a senior in 2005…2005 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 recruit and ranked seventh in the national among incoming college freshmen by Prepvolleyball.com…Selected Mizuno High School All-American and state of Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year…Attended Saline High School (Mich.) from 2001-2005…Three-time letterwinner in basketball earning honorable-mention All-League and conference’s best defensive player…Dunked a Basketball in a game as a senior.
PERSONAL: Parents are Frank and Cathy Paolini with one brother, Andrew (1986)…Nickname is Pao (pronounced pay-o)…Majoring in biology/pre-dental at University of Texas…Hobbies include reading, listening to music, shopping and trying new restaurants…Has spent three years playing beach volleyball…Favorite food is macaroni and cheese…Favorite book is Kite Runner…Enjoys listening to R&B music with favorite musical groups Maroon 5 and Counting Crows…Favorite professional team is Detroit Pistons and favorite athlete is Ben Wallace. Happiest moment in life is every time she is back in Austin, Texas.
Getting to Know Lauren Paolini
What are the top songs in your iPod?
Everything is Everything (Lauryn Hill), some songs by Sade, I’ll Be by Edwin McCain and Amazed by Lonestar
Name a few things that most people do not know about you.
I was the point guard on my basketball team up until my sophomore year of high school, I was born in California
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Read, listen to music on my iPod or watch good TV shows.
What do you envision doing as a career after competing for the national team?
Playing overseas and in the AVP or starting my own practice as an orthodontist (hopefully in Texas!)
Who was your club coach prior to going to college?
Ed Tolentino
Where would you like to spend a week’s vacation?
Somewhere in Europe, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, France..wherever!
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Austin, Texas!, or Rome
What is your favorite room in your house and why?
My living room because there is a fireplace and a TV
What is the one luxury item that you could not do without?
My cell phone!
Rank the following types of television programs in order you like best: Reality TV, crime dramas, game shows, sit-coms, music television, cable news, sports.
Sit-Coms, sports, reality, crime dramas, music tv, cable news
What is your favorite television program?
My Wife and Kids, King Of Queens, the beginning of American Idol, and America’s Next Top Model
What is your favorite movie?
Meet the Parents
What is your favorite book?
Kite Runner
Are you a morning person, afternoon person or night person?
Definitely morning
What is your pre-match ritual?
Listen to my iPod or dancing to music with my teammates
On an airplane, would you rather, sleep, read, work on a computer or talk with the person sitting next to you?
read
What is the best thing about competing on the USA Women’s National Team?
The chance to win a gold medal!
What is your favorite volleyball drill?
Queen of the Court
What sport would you be competing in if not for volleyball?
Basketball for sure!
Who is your favorite athlete?
Ben Wallace ( I liked him better when he played for the Detroit Pistons though :) )
What is your favorite food?
Macaroni and cheese
What is your favorite restaurant to eat at?
Z Tejas or Taste Of Texas
What is your hometown best known for?
Ann Arbor…..probably snow..or the University of Michigan
How many different languages can you converse in?
2 English and Sign Language
What was your favorite subject in school?
Biology
What fad were you involved in during junior high school that many would be surprised to learn?
Knitting, wearing lots of clips in my hair
If you could see any musical act or performer (dead or alive) in concert, who would it be?
Beethoven
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing that you would buy or pay for?
I would buy a condo on a cliff that overlooks the ocean somewhere in California
If you could have one super power, what would it be?
invisibility
If a movie was made about your life, which actor or actress would you want to play you?
Claire Fiorlani
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?
Fishing pole, sunblock, and a boat.
If you could live in another time period for a week, which one would you choose?
Renaissance
If you could be on the cover of one magazine, which one would you choose?
Forbes
What is the most “embarrassing” song on your iPod?
I’m Blue (Eiffel 65)
What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas!
What is your favorite season – winter, spring, summer or fall?
Summer
What is one off-the-court talent that you have?
I like to cook
What is your motto?
Always Persevere
What reality show (American Idol, the Apprentice, the Real World, Survivor, Big Brother, etc.) would you be best on?
Project Runway
What is your pet peeve?
Windshield wipers on a dry windshield
What communication tool do you use most often – text messaging, talking on the cell phone or e-mail?
Text Messaging
Posted and Updated: Aug. 6, 2015
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