Girls volleyball: DuPage County All-Area captain Tarnow finishes four fantastic seasons at Benet with 155-13 record, four state trophies
On a team loaded with elite, college-bound stars, Benet Academy senior middle blocker Lynney Tarnow shined the brightest this fall.
The 6-foot-5 University of Wisconsin-bound Tarnow was an absolute nightmare for opponents to hit against and defend as she helped power Lisle-based Benet, which had 7 college commits return from last year’s team, to the Class 4A state-championship match for a fourth year in a row.
“She is a great player and has become more well-rounded in utilizing her size the past few years,” said Marist coach Jordan Vidovic, whose team, with 6 of its own college recruits, upended Benet for the 4A state title in Normal last weekend. “She covers more ground on the block and makes it very hard on hitters and she can mix it up as a hitter. Her serve can also be very effective, so we made some adjustments on that, too.”
Rated as one of the top junior players in the country (ranked as the No. 1 player in Illinois and in the Top 10 in the country by one national online outlet), Tarnow was named the East Suburban Catholic Conference player of the year, an Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association Class 4A all-state first-team selection and an Under Armour all-American.
And Tarnow is the well-deserved 2025 Daily Herald DuPage County All-Area girls volleyball team captain.
“Lynney brings energy to every practice and match and her teammates know they can always rely on her,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “Lynney is incredibly supportive and selfless. She lifts others up, celebrates their successes and encourages them when things get tough. She’s also humble about her own abilities, never seeking the spotlight, but always stepping up when the team needs her. Her positivity and work ethic make her someone teammates look up to on and off the court.”
Tarnow logged 227 kills, hit a team-high .430 and registered 40 blocks for the 39-3 Redwings. But beyond the numbers Tarnow felt her leadership skills made the biggest leap forward in her final season on Maple Ave.
“My biggest improvement was being a team leader,” the Downers Grove resident said. “Stepping into that role as a senior wasn’t hard, but it was new. I was on the varsity team since I was a freshman and was used to having that senior support. This was more about learning a new role this season and taking that on. It was an adjustment, but I was proud of how I helped lead the team.”
Tarnow was also proud of her hitting this season. “Sometimes people might only look at me as a big block, but I love attacking,” she said. “I’m a versatile option. A lot of the credit has to go to our setter (Northwestern-bound Ellie Stiernagle). I was always ready to attack from anywhere.”
Tarnow noted she was subjected to some creative defenses again this season, which was fine with her.
“It shows how great my teammates are,” she said. “When I can’t be given the ball, other players are there to put it away. It’s great to work through that and have other options like we do. It was huge for us.”
St. Francis coach Lisa Ston said Tarnow’s presence was a challenge on both sides of the net.
“She has a great block and long arm span, which makes attacking around her very hard for her opponents, and she can effectively run all the first tempo routes both cross and line, which makes her difficult to defend,” she explained.
St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins’ North Stars squad ran into Benet in each of the last four years.
“Even from afar, you can tell she is the kind of player who makes the people around her better, not just her teammates, but opponents as well,” she said. “She is one of the most terminable hitters in the state, probably even the country, so in our gym, the question we always ask is ‘How can we keep the ball away from Lynney?’ Her presence on the court forces teams to get more creative with their offense because she is such a force blocking wise, and be more disciplined defensively because she gives Benet such an advantage offensively. So yes, she makes it very hard to scout against.”
Hawkins said in the four years of coaching against her, she was super-impressed with Tarnow’s growth, “from her poise, sportsmanship and confidence,” she said. “She has truly become a commanding presence in this game, one that has gained the respect of opponents, coaches and fans all over.”
Hawkins pointed to the two North-Benet matches this season that featured Tarnow and North’s Penn State-bound Haley Burgdorf, the Captain of the Daily Herald’s Fox Valley girls volleyball All-Area team for a second year in a row.
“Nothing is more of a testament to that than the amount of fans who flocked to watch a showdown between Lynney and Haley twice this season,” she said. “People showed up from all over to see that matchup both times it occurred because of the high level of volleyball those two are playing at. To me, there’s no better compliment than turning someone into a fan of volleyball and helping them see how great this game is, and that’s what players like Lynney and Haley do.”
Tarnow, who is a high-honor roll student at Benet and enjoys cooking and reading in her spare time, is ready to make the next leap to the Big Ten Conference and Wisconsin. She’ll graduate in December from Benet and report to Wisconsin in January.
“Lynney has the potential to be a very physical net presence,” Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said. “She can hit well off one or two feet with power and can take up a lot of space with her block. She’s been coming to our summer camps since she was really little so we’ve really been able to watch her grow and have gotten to know her well over the years.”
Those camps Sheffield references are how Tarnow, who is a product of the 1st Alliance club program, started in the sport. She noted her three older brothers had gone to camps there, which led her to doing her first Wisconsin volleyball came at age nine.
“And then once I got on a club team I never stopped. I kept on playing,” she said. “I’ve always said Wisconsin was my dream school. I’ve always said I’ve known since I was 9 years old that I wanted to play there. It really is a dream come true.”
Looking back, Tarnow is blown away by her Benet volleyball experience the last four seasons, one that saw her part of four Redwings teams that went 155-13 and helped the program up its streak to winning a state trophy in 11 of the past 18 seasons and six of the last seven.
“It was a great four years,” she said. “I can only look back with so much gratitude. Each team was so different. This team, it was not expected for us to be in the state-championship match. I am proud of what we did the last four years. We left a legacy that hopefully can be continued. Hopefully I taught some people some things and left an impact on this program. Getting to play in the state-championship match four years in a row is definitely rare. I think the endings were never what we wanted, but you have to have a lot of grace for those teams. Everybody was out there fighting for gold medals. And even though the gold was not hanging around our necks, it was fun to be out there fighting for it. We were winners and I am super proud of what we did here.”