Last Week’s Stats: .429 hitting percentage, 3.60 points/set, 2.40 kills/set, 2.20 blocks/set
Foster was one of 14 players in NCAA Division I — and the lone NEC student-athlete — to average at least 2.00 blocks per set this past week when she racked up a nation-best 22 rejections on opening weekend of conference play. Behind her stellar all-around play, which also included 24 kills on .429 hitting, New Haven jumped out to a 1-1 start in NEC competition with a five-set defeat at Stonehill on Friday and a 3-2 triumph against the Skyhawks on Saturday. The Australian-born middle blocker was a brick wall in Friday’s league opener. Delivering nine kills, she tallied 13 rejections to tie Northeastern’s Beatrice Gennari for the best single-match, five-set performance in the nation this season. In addition, the 13 blocks were the most by an NEC player since Central Connecticut’s Eline van Heijningen had 13 against Byrant on Nov. 16, 2018. One day after she stole the show on defense, Foster flipped the switch with a standout offensive match. She notched a career-high 15 kills and committed just two miscues in 21 attempts for a .619 attack percentage to lead New Haven to its first-ever NEC win. With this week’s award, Foster becomes the third different Charger to earn NEC/Molten Defensive Player of the Week distinction. She joins Payton Malinoski (Sept. 9) and Naliah Grannell (Sept. 16).