Emily Foster enters her second season with Occidental College Women's Volleyball in 2025 after spending eight seasons rebuilding the St. Olaf College program.
In her first season with the Tigers, Foster coached two CSC Academic All-District athletes in Katelyn Cajigas and Elianna Channel. She also led the squad to their first ever AVCA All-Academic Team selection.
In her time with the Oles, Foster has led the Oles to a combined record of 136-77 (.638), with the 136 victories ranking second in program history to longtime head coach and St. Olaf Athletics Hall of Famer Cindy Book. Foster's teams posted winning records in each of the last seven 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, then back to the tournament in 2023.Â
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.
