The moment Claire Mosher stepped onto Wisconsin Avenue, she knew it was where she belonged.
“(Just by) coming on my first visit here and coming to campus, it just really felt like home,” Mosher said.
Now in her first month donning the blue and gold, the freshman setter has already made a large impact for the Golden Eagles.
Mosher made her first career starts last Saturday during the team’s doubleheader against Tulsa and Illinois State. She was a crucial piece for Marquette in its consecutive sweeps.
“It was kind of scary,” Mosher said about having her name announced as a starter. “I’m number one, so I was the first one to be announced, and I remember saying to everyone, ‘I don’t know what to do, like, I’m the first one, what do I do?’”
But Mosher quickly settled into her spot, finishing with a team-high 29 assists against the Golden Hurricane.
“It’s always tough coming in as a freshman setter because the other two setters went the whole offseason with all the returning hitters,” volleyball head coach Ryan Theis said. “So to step into that and learn how to set seven new people versus the other setters, who just have to learn how to set one new person … I think that’s pretty relevant and challenging.”
Later on, against Illinois State, Mosher came to the service line in the second set with her team down at set point. Lots of players would have crumbled under the pressure, but Mosher is used to it, having won back-to-back state championships in high school and setting her school’s record in assists, aces and blocks.
“It’s always hard when a team is at set point, and you have to go back and serve,” Mosher said. “I could either wimp it out and just keep it in and they can get a big kill on us, or I could serve aggressively and potentially get an ace and that’s what happened, so I was super happy about that.”
Due to Mosher’s smart serving and setting, the Golden Eagles fought their way back to win the second set and later swept the Redbirds.
The younger of the Mosher sisters finished the day with a combined 34 assists and three service aces, along with the satisfaction of having started her first two collegiate volleyball matches.
“It was fun to see her smile,” Theis said. “She was out there playing and smiling and having fun, and, in practice, she takes things pretty seriously. So it was nice to see her relax and have some fun in the match.”
In high school, Mosher rotated between setter, outside hitter and right side hitter, so she needed to adjust to her role on the Marquette squad.
“I think that my setting when I came in wasn’t super strong,” Mosher said. “But I definitely got more consistent with my sets, and I’m more confident in that.”
Fellow setters Lauren Speckman and Sarah Rose helped her acclimate to Division I volleyball, accelerating her progression at Marquette.
“They taught me to just trust my instincts,” Mosher said. “The coaches say a lot of things, and it’s a lot to take in, and (Speckman and Rose) have taught me to be confident in how you’re setting.”
While Speckman’s status remains undetermined for the next few weeks, Mosher’s role is bound to increase. To her teammates and coaches, it seems that she’s well prepared for it.
“Claire has a good touch on the ball and a good spatial awareness,” Theis said. “She’s a little sneaky athletic, and she makes some really smart volleyball plays (and) some really good decisions.”
Mosher said she isn’t phased in any way by playing a big role as the newest player on the court.
“Being a freshman, there is so much pressure because people target you because you’re new and vulnerable,” Mosher said. “Just being able to do my job and that the stats show that I did is just really rewarding.”
