Sister Act at NCAA regional

Former Comet siblings play for different teams in NCAA regional

Press Staff Report

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Former Charles City volleyball standouts, Katie Foster and Jackie Doering (néeFoster), both played for different teams during this past weekend’s NCAA Division 3 Volleyball Regional.

Katie is a freshman at Wartburg College, where she was honored for an outstanding rookie season by being named the All-Iowa Conference Freshman of the Year. Her tournament record-setting five aces against St. Thomas in the regional first round helped the Knights advance to the semifinals.

Jackie is a senior at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, which hosted the regional. During her career with the Eagles, Jackie recorded more than 2,100 digs.

The siblings as well as their respective teams were seemingly on a regional-final collision course with an NCAA Division 3 Elite 8 berth at stake. But Gustavus Adolphus College foiled the pending family reunion.

In the semifinal against Wartburg, Gustavus won 3-1 (25-21, 12-25, 25-16, 25-15) despite a season-high 31 digs from Katie.

Jackie’s team swept Wisconsin-La Crosse 3-0 in its semifinal, but lost to Gustavus 3-1 (11-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-22), despite 21 digs by libero Jackie.

The sisters are the daughter of former Charles City head volleyball coach Sue Hoefer, who led the Comets to a State Volleyball Tournament in 2016. Katie was an all-state outside hitter on that team.

Jackie also was all-state hitter in high school, and helped lead the Comets to a state title in 2012.

For Wartburg, it finished the year at 25-6 after winning All-Iowa Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

For Northwestern, it capped a third-straight “Sweet 16” season with 34 match wins (34-7), which ties a school record.