St. Olaf College Athletics

Emily Foster is in her eighth year as the head volleyball coach at St. Olaf in 2023-24 after being named to the position on Dec. 17, 2015. She also serves as an assistant athletic director, a role she moved into prior to the 2023-24 academic year, and was the department's senior woman administrator for four years from 2019-20 through 2022-23.

Over her seven seasons at St. Olaf, Foster has led the Oles to a combined record of 115-67 (.632), with the 115 victories ranking second in program history to longtime head coach and St. Olaf Athletics Hall of Famer Cindy Book. Foster's teams have posted winning records in each of the last six seasons, including three-straight 20-win seasons from 2017-19, and have qualified for the MIAC Playoffs in each of the last five seasons of the tournament.

Foster has led the Oles to the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs twice (2019, 2022) and guided St. Olaf to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010 in 2019. Over the last five complete seasons, Foster has coached 16 All-MIAC selections, six American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region/Honorable Mention All-Region honorees, and three AVCA All-America/Honorable Mention All-America selections.

In 2019, St. Olaf posted its highest win total since 2010 with a 26-6 record and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Oles also advanced to the championship match of the MIAC Playoffs for the first time in nine seasons and earned their first national ranking since early 2011.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Oles playing just five matches in the spring of 2021, St. Olaf had increased its win total in each of its seasons under Foster's direction, improving from 10-16 in 2016 to 22-11 in 2017 to 23-7 in 2018 and 26-6 in 2019. After not winning a match in the MIAC Playoffs since 2010, the Oles won at least one match in the tournament in both 2017 and 2019.

Before coming to St. Olaf, Foster spent three seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Northern State University, where she handled defense and was the program's recruiting coordinator. The Wolves went a combined 66-22 in that span, including a 25-4 mark overall and a 17-3 record in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play in 2015. Before her stint at Northern State, Foster spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Minnesota State Mankato.

Foster had a decorated career as a setter at the University of St. Thomas from 2007-10, helping the Tommies to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the national quarterfinals in her senior season. She was a four-time First Team All-MIAC selection, a three-time AVCA All-American, a two-time MIAC MVP, and the 2007 MIAC Rookie of the Year. At the time of her graduation, Foster was one of 10 student-athletes to be a four-time First Team All-MIAC selection in volleyball.

Foster has club and camp coaching experience in the Minnesota area as well. She has coached at Minnesota One Volleyball Club in Bloomington and at ORVC in Mankato, in addition to various summer camps.

The Hopkins, Minn. native holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of St. Thomas and a master's degree in sport and exercise psychology from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
 

THE OLES UNDER EMILY FOSTER
SEASON	OVERALL	PCT.	MIAC	PCT.	MIAC FINISH / MIAC PLAYOFFS / NCAA TOURNAMENT
2016	10-16	.385	1-10	.091	t-10th
2017	22-11	.667	7-4	.636	t-4th / Semifinals of MIAC Playoffs
2018	23-7	.767	7-4	.636	t-4th / Quarterfinals of MIAC Playoffs
2019	26-6	.812	8-3	.727	t-2nd / MIAC Playoffs Runner-Up / NCAA Tournament First Round
2020-21	4-1	.800	-	-	-
2021	14-13	.519	8-3	.727	4th / Semifinals of MIAC Playoffs
2022	16-13	.552	8-3	.727	t-2nd / MIAC Playoffs Runner-Up
2023	21-10	.677	7-4	.636	3rd / MIAC Playoffs Runner-Up / NCAA Tournament First Round
TOTAL	136-77	.638	46-31	.597