How Natalie Foster found her confidence and became Wichita State volleyball star
When Natalie Foster joined the Wichita State volleyball team, she felt like coach Chris Lamb believed in her potential more than she did.
In Lamb’s mind, the 6-foot-4 middle blocker from Mattawan, Mich., had nearly the identical disposition as Jen Ray and Abbie Lehman, two middles who came to WSU as raw talent and developed into all-conference hitters.
In Foster’s mind, she didn’t think she had the talent. Her confidence had been shot by a bad experience with her club team in Michigan, which she said effectively benched her for playing high school basketball rather than commit to club volleyball year-round.
“Two years before that our (club) team won the national championship and I was playing, but then I was put on the bench,” Foster said. “At the time, I didn’t really know why. It was never explained to me. It really knocked my confidence down.”
Former WSU assistant coach Sean Carter was the one who spotted Foster as a potential recruit. Lamb still remembers the scouting report Carter gave him before the head coach reached out to Foster for the first time over the phone.
“He told me, ‘Hey, when you talk to her, make sure to pump her up. I don’t think she’s got a lot of confidence because those guys don’t play her very much,’” Lamb said.
Lamb couldn’t help but be reminded of Ray and Lehman when he watched Foster and spoke with her. They were all more potential than realized talent in high school, but Lamb believed in all three of their potential before even they did.
“They really didn’t have a volleyball identity in high school, but they all had talent, at least as far as I could tell,” Lamb said. “I knew if (Foster) was willing to work hard, she could really develop into a really good volleyball player for us. All three of those girls were all long at a young age, maybe a little uncoordinated and it just takes a little while. But I recognized what I saw as talent.”
Even when Foster earned a starting role for the Shockers as a freshman, she still battled self-doubt. She said the encouragement from the WSU coaching staff and Lamb’s ability to back up what he was saying to her through the advanced statistics he religiously tracks in practices helped her gain confidence.
“They put me in those real-life situations right away, and I experienced the highs and lows,” Foster said. “When I got low, they would encourage me. ‘Hey, you can do this.’ I think that was really effective for me. And then Lambo would pull up the stats and show me to back me up. ‘Look, you know you can do this.’ I think that was just very helpful for me.”
Foster wasn’t the first player Lamb has needed to build up confidence with in his two-decade coaching career. He knew he had to thread the needle of pushing Foster hard, but also helping build her up along the way.
“You don’t want to drift too far away from their strengths,” Lamb said. “That’s something they do feel good about, and then you’re sprinkling in the other aspects of the game that they’re going to have to figure out. For Natalie, it was about keeping the offense simple. She had the arm talent and she could play high, so we wanted to make sure we dialed up offensive plays for her that she could do well at. Meanwhile, the speed of the game, transition volleyball, the speed of the game for blocking, we’ve just tried to get better and better every semester. She’s been great.”
After earning second team all-conference honors last season, Foster has been even better as a sophomore, as she is on pace for career-best marks in kills, blocks, digs and aces on a per-set basis.
Foster was recently named to the AAC honor roll and has a .421 hitting percentage with 85 kills in her last six matches entering Wichita State’s home swing this weekend. The Shockers (13-11, 8-5 AAC) will play host to Tulane (8-17, 3-11) at 7 p.m. Friday and conference-leader Houston (23-2, 14-0) at noon Sunday at Koch Arena.
After years of wondering if she was good enough, Foster is finally believing in the same answer as Lamb.
“When I first came here, I didn’t have any confidence in myself but the coaches knew that I had a high ceiling,” Foster said. “I just had to trust the process and go with it and trust that they were going to get me to where I needed to be. It was rough there for the first year, but when I look back on it now, I’m very proud of the work that I’ve put in and knowing there is more to come. And I’m excited for it.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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