Few parents have the opportunity to follow their child to college, but junior setter Lauren Speckman’s parents did just that.
“I’m an only child,” Speckman said. “I have a lot of family out here in the Midwest and on the east coast, and my parents actually moved out here.”
With her parents in the area every step of the way, the San Jose, California, native has been a catalyst for the Marquette women’s volleyball the past two seasons.
It only takes one word for head coach Ryan Theis to describe Speckman’s game: dynamic.
Speckman is a proactive leader, regularly stopping in to Theis’ office to discuss game strategy, places for the team to improve and issues of any kind.
“What makes Lauren a really special person is she understands team first,” Theis said. “When there’s a ripple in the tide of the team, (Lauren) brings that to my attention, and she is a great communicator of that.”
Speckman has embraced her leadership role on the No. 18 Golden Eagles, bringing a vocal presence to the starting back line.
“I’m a very, very loud communicator, and I enjoy speaking a lot,” Speckman said. “There’s a lot of different leaders on the court, but I’m probably the most vocal.”
Her clear communication skills is not her only strength. Her athleticism and volleyball IQ make her a highly effective setter.
“She has a good understanding of putting hitters in good situations to be successful,” Theis said. “(She) moves really well and can get to balls, save balls and make plays.”
Speckman’s accolades have reflected those strengths. She appeared on the 2014 U.S. Youth National Team in the U18 Continental Championships and earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors last season. She learned on the 2014 team from head coach Jim Stone, a former NCAA All-American and U.S. national team coach.
Her squad had to settle for taking silver, but Speckman said the constant pressure of medal matches in that tournament allowed for her to deal with the pressure of big-time games at Marquette.
A talented roster around her at the Al McGuire Center helps too.
“It’s awesome. I mean, it’s my dream,” Speckman said. “We have incredible passers, so it makes my job very easy. And then obviously Allie Barber, Jenna (Rosenthal and) Hope (Werch) all make me look better than I probably deserve.”
She said chose to play setter because of the importance of setter to a volleyball team. Receiving the second touch on each play, she controls the flow of the game and each team’s return strategy.
“When I was younger (and) trying to figure out what position I wanted to play, I chose setter because I wanted to touch the ball a lot,” Speckman said. “There’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of need for all the sets to be good.”
And now she’s confidently handling the pressure as setter for the preseason BIG EAST favorite.
“We returned just about everybody from a young team last year,” Speckman said. “There was a lot of pressure on all of us to kind of see what we can do and I think we’ve been doing well under all that pressure.”
